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Li Q, Niu JQ, Jia JH, Xu W, Bai M, Yao GD, Song SJ. A highly oxidized germacranolide from elephantopus tomentosus inhibits the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by targeting EGFR in vitro and in vivo. Bioorg Chem 2024; 143:107007. [PMID: 38039928 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2023.107007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Revised: 11/16/2023] [Accepted: 11/25/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023]
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide, with high mortality and poor prognosis. WBDC-1 is a novel highly oxidized germacranolide from the Elephantopus tomentosus in our previous work, which has excellent anti-HCC activity, but the detailed mechanism is still unclear. In this study, we found that WBDC-1 was able to inhibit the proliferation and colony formation of Hep3B and HepG2 cells, as well as the cell migration ability and EMT. In addition, WBDC-1 showed no obvious toxicity to normal liver epithelial cells L-02. The potential targets of WBDC-1 were predicted by network pharmacology, and the following verified experiments showed that WBDC-1 exerted anti-HCC effect by targeting EGFR. Mechanismly, subsequent biological analysis showed that WBDC-1 can inhibit EGFR and its downstream RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways. Overexpression of EGFR reversed the anticancer properties of WBDC-1. Consistent with in vitro experiments, WBDC-1 was able to inhibit tumor growth and was non-toxic in xenograft tumor models. In summary, this study revealed a potential tumor suppressive mechanism of WBDC-1 and provided a novel strategy for HCC treatment. It also laid a foundation for further research on the anti-tumor effect of highly oxidized germacranolides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Li
- Key Laboratory of Computational Chemistry-Based Natural Antitumor Drug Research & Development, Liaoning Province, China; Engineering Research Center of Natural Medicine Active Molecule Research & Development, Liaoning Province, China; Key Laboratory of Natural Bioactive Compounds Discovery & Modification, Shenyang, China; School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110016, China
| | - Jia-Qi Niu
- Key Laboratory of Computational Chemistry-Based Natural Antitumor Drug Research & Development, Liaoning Province, China; Engineering Research Center of Natural Medicine Active Molecule Research & Development, Liaoning Province, China; Key Laboratory of Natural Bioactive Compounds Discovery & Modification, Shenyang, China; School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110016, China
| | - Jian-Huan Jia
- Key Laboratory of Computational Chemistry-Based Natural Antitumor Drug Research & Development, Liaoning Province, China; Engineering Research Center of Natural Medicine Active Molecule Research & Development, Liaoning Province, China; Key Laboratory of Natural Bioactive Compounds Discovery & Modification, Shenyang, China; School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110016, China
| | - Wei Xu
- Key Laboratory of Computational Chemistry-Based Natural Antitumor Drug Research & Development, Liaoning Province, China; Engineering Research Center of Natural Medicine Active Molecule Research & Development, Liaoning Province, China; Key Laboratory of Natural Bioactive Compounds Discovery & Modification, Shenyang, China; School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110016, China
| | - Ming Bai
- Key Laboratory of Computational Chemistry-Based Natural Antitumor Drug Research & Development, Liaoning Province, China; Engineering Research Center of Natural Medicine Active Molecule Research & Development, Liaoning Province, China; Key Laboratory of Natural Bioactive Compounds Discovery & Modification, Shenyang, China; School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110016, China
| | - Guo-Dong Yao
- Key Laboratory of Computational Chemistry-Based Natural Antitumor Drug Research & Development, Liaoning Province, China; Engineering Research Center of Natural Medicine Active Molecule Research & Development, Liaoning Province, China; Key Laboratory of Natural Bioactive Compounds Discovery & Modification, Shenyang, China; School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110016, China.
| | - Shao-Jiang Song
- Key Laboratory of Computational Chemistry-Based Natural Antitumor Drug Research & Development, Liaoning Province, China; Engineering Research Center of Natural Medicine Active Molecule Research & Development, Liaoning Province, China; Key Laboratory of Natural Bioactive Compounds Discovery & Modification, Shenyang, China; School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110016, China
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