Cryptotanshinone inhibits ovarian tumor growth and metastasis by degrading c-Myc and attenuating the FAK signaling pathway

Multiscale screening and identifying specific targets for artesunate in suppressing bladder cancer

Background

Bladder cancer (BLCA) is a highly aggressive urinary malignancy with high mortality in advanced stages, posing a significant health risk. Artesunate (ART), a derivative of artemisinin, has been demonstrated with potent anti-tumor activity in some studies, yet its specific targets for BLCA and the molecular mechanisms have not been fully elucidated.

Purpose

This study screened potential targets of ART against BLCA through network pharmacology, followed by molecular docking simulations and experimental validation in vitro and in vivo to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.

Methods

This study identified the critical targets of BLCA and ART by employing multiscale screening from public databases, and a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed. Molecular docking simulations confirmed the stable binding of ART to the identified tumor-related targets promoting BLCA progression. These computational findings were further validated through experiments in vivo and in vitro, ensuring robust and reliable results.

Results

Based on network pharmacology analysis, the effects of ART on BLCA were multifaceted. Molecular docking simulations confirmed the binding stability of ART with core targets. The experiments in vitro proved that ART could inhibit BLCA cell proliferation and migration by downregulating the expression of BCL-2, inducing Caspase 3-mediated apoptosis, resulting in cell cycle arrest and suppressing the PI3K/Akt/mTOR classical pathway involved in BLCA growth and metabolism. Studies in vivo also confirmed that ART had significant anti-tumor effects with minimal side effects.

Conclusion

This study identified the mechanism by which ART inhibited BLCA through multiple specific targets, revealing its potential anti-cancer pathways and laying the foundation for the clinical application of traditional Chinese medicine in BLCA therapy.

New insights of advanced biotechnological engineering strategies for tanshinone biosynthesis in Salvia miltiorrhiza

Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, a well-known traditional Chinese herbal medicine, has been served as not only medicine for human ailments, but also health care products. As one of major bioactive ingredients, tanshinones are widely used to treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and also possess different pharmacological activities including anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic and others. However, the content of tanshinones is relatively low in S. miltiorrhiza plants. Recently, multiple biotechnological strategies have been applied to improve tanshinone production. In this review, advances in bioactivities, biosynthesis pathway and regulation, transcriptional regulatory network, epigenetic modification and synthetic biology are summarized, and future perspectives are discussed, which will help develop high-quality S. miltiorrhiza resources.

Pharmacological Mechanisms of Cryptotanshinone: Recent Advances in Cardiovascular, Cancer, and Neurological Disease Applications

Cryptotanshinone (CTS) is an important active ingredient of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. In recent years, its remarkable pharmacological effects have triggered extensive and in-depth studies. The aim of this study is to retrieve the latest research progress on CTS and provide prospects for future research. The selection of literature for inclusion, data extraction and methodological quality assessment were discussed. Studies included (1) physicochemical and ADME/Tox properties, (2) pharmacological effects and mechanism, (3) conclusion and bioinformatics analysis. A total of 915 titles and abstracts were screened, resulting in 184 papers used in this review; CTS has shown therapeutic effects on a variety of diseases by modulating multiple molecular pathways. For example, CTS primarily targets NF-κB pathway and MAPK pathway to have a therapeutic role in cardiovascular diseases; in cancer, CTS shows superior efficacy through the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway and the JAK/STAT pathway; CTS act on the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway to combat neurological diseases. In addition, key targets of CTS were predicted by bioinformatics analysis, referring to disease ontology (DO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis, with R Studio; AKT1, MAPK1, STAT3, P53 and EGFR are predicted to be the key targets of CTS against diseases. The key proteins were then docked by Autodock software to preliminarily assess their binding activities. This review provided new insights into research of CTS and its potential applications in the future, and especially the targets and directly binding modes for CTS are waiting to be investigated.

Exploring the therapeutic potential of tonic Chinese herbal medicine for gynecological disorders: An updated review

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Gynecological disorders have the characteristics of high incidence and recurrence rate, which sorely affects female's health. Since ancient times, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), especially tonic medicine (TM), has been used to deal with gynecological disorders and has unique advantages in effectiveness and safety.

AIM OF THE REVIEW

In this article, we aim to summarize the research progress of TMs in-vivo and in-vitro, including their formulas, single herbs, and compounds, for gynecological disorders treatment in recent years, and to offer a reference for further research on the treatment of gynecological disorders and their clinical application in the treatment of TMs.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Relevant information on the therapeutic potential of TMs against gynecological disorders was collected from several scientific databases including Web of Science, PubMed, CNKI, Google Scholar and other literature sources.

RESULTS

So far, there are 46 different formulas, 3 single herbs, and 24 compounds used in the treatment of various gynecological disorders such as premature ovarian failure, endometriosis breast cancer, and so on. Many experimental results have shown that TMs can regulate apoptosis, invasion, migration, oxidative stress, and the immune system. In addition, the effect of TMs in gynecological disorders treatment may be due to the regulation of VEGF, PI3K-AKT, MAPK, NF-κB, and other signaling pathways. Apparently, TMs play an active role in the treatment of gynecological disorders by regulating these signaling pathways.

CONCLUSION

TMs have a curative effect on the prevention and treatment of gynecological disorders. It could relieve and treat gynecological disorders through a variety of pathways. Therefore, the appropriate TM treatment program makes it more possible to treat gynecological disorders.