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Zhao WT, Han LX, Liu L, Zeng BZ, Zhang Y, Zhao LF, Hu HY, Xia JW, Li YZ, Xiang XD, Lin XL, Lu D, Li GF. The Yunnan national medicine Maytenus compound inhibits the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by suppressing the activation of the EGFR-PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. J Cancer 2021; 12:3325-3334. [PMID: 33976742 PMCID: PMC8100817 DOI: 10.7150/jca.56426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2020] [Accepted: 03/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the effects of Maytenus compound on the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells in vitro and in vivo and to explore the underlying mechanism. Methods: The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of Maytenus compound in HepG2 and BEL-7402 cells were determined by the MTS assay. HepG2 and BEL-7402 cells were treated with different concentrations of Maytenus compound. MTS assays, colony formation assays and cell cycle analyses were performed to clarify the inhibitory effect of Maytenus compound on the proliferation of HepG2 and BEL-7402 cells in vitro. After subcutaneous injection of HepG2 cells, nude mice were randomly divided into a vehicle control group and a drug intervention group, which were intragastrically administered ddH2O or Maytenus compound, respectively. The inhibitory effect of Maytenus compound on the proliferation of HepG2 cells in vivo was analyzed using subcutaneous tumor growth curves, tumor weight, the tumor growth inhibition rate and the immunohistochemical detection of BrdU-labeled cells in S phase. The organ toxicity of Maytenus compound was initially evaluated by comparing the weight difference and organ index of the two groups of nude mice. The main proteins in the EGFR-PI3K-AKT signaling pathway were detected by Western blot after Maytenus compound intervention in vivo and in vitro. Results: Maytenus compound showed favorable antiproliferation activity against HepG2 and BEL-7402 cells with IC50 values of 79.42±11.71 µg/mL and 78.48±8.87 µg/mL, respectively. MTS assays, colony formation assays and cell cycle analyses showed that Maytenus compound at different concentration gradients within the IC50 concentration range significantly suppressed the proliferation of HepG2 and BEL-7402 cells in vitro and inhibited cell cycle progression from G1 to S phase. Additionally, Maytenus compound, at an oral dose of 2.45 g/kg, dramatically inhibited, without obvious organ toxicity, the proliferation of subcutaneous tumors formed by HepG2 cells in nude mice. In addition, the tumor growth inhibition rate for Maytenus compound was 66.94%. Furthermore, Maytenus compound inhibited the proliferation of liver orthotopic transplantation tumors in nude mice. Western blot analysis showed that Maytenus compound significantly downregulated the expression of p-EGFR, p-PI3K, and p-AKT and upregulated the expression of p-FOXO3a, p27, and p21 in vivo and in vitro. Conclusion: Maytenus compound significantly inhibited the proliferation of HCC cells in vitro and in vivo. The downregulation of the EGFR-PI3K-AKT signaling pathway and subsequent inhibition of cell cycle progression from G1 to S phase is one of the possible mechanisms. Maytenus compound has a high tumor growth inhibition rate and has no obvious organ toxicity, which may make it a potential anti-HCC drug, but the results from this study need to be confirmed by further clinical trials in HCC patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wen-Tao Zhao
- Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Yunnan Cancer Center), Kunming 650118, China
| | - Liu-Xin Han
- The third people's hospital of Kunming (The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Dali University), Kunming 650041, China
| | - Lin Liu
- Department of Traditional medicine research laboratory, Puer Traditional Ethnomedicine Institute, Puer 665000, China
| | - Bao-Zhen Zeng
- Department of Pathology, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou 510080, China
| | - Yi Zhang
- Department of Gynecology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Yunnan Cancer Center), Kunming 650118, China
| | - Liu-Fang Zhao
- Department of Head and Neck Cancer, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Yunnan Cancer Center), Kunming 650118, China
| | - Hong-Yan Hu
- Department of Pathology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Yunnan Cancer Center), Kunming 650118, China
| | - Jia-Wei Xia
- The third people's hospital of Kunming (The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Dali University), Kunming 650041, China
| | - Yi-Ze Li
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Yunnan Cancer Center), Kunming 650118, China
| | - Xu-Dong Xiang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Yunnan Cancer Center), Kunming 650118, China
| | - Xiao-Lin Lin
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Cancer Immunotherapy Research and Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunology Research, Cancer Research Institute, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Di Lu
- Technology Transfer Center, Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650500, China
| | - Gao-Feng Li
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Yunnan Cancer Center), Kunming 650118, China
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Zeng B, Ge C, Zhao W, Fu K, Liu L, Lin Z, Fu Q, Li Z, Li R, Guo H, Li C, Zhao L, Hu H, Yang H, Huang W, Huang Y, Song X. Anticancer effect of the traditional Chinese medicine herb Maytenus compound via the EGFR/PI3K/AKT/GSK3β pathway. Transl Cancer Res 2019; 8:2130-2140. [PMID: 35116963 PMCID: PMC8798896 DOI: 10.21037/tcr.2019.09.30] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2019] [Accepted: 08/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Background Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide; folk anticancer medicinal plants have applied for cancer treatment. The Maytenus compound tablet as traditional Chinese compound medicine has been approved for alleviating hyperplasia of mammary glands, whether it can inhibit cancer still unknown. The study was to evaluate the anticancer activity of the Maytenus compound tablet. Methods MTS assay evaluated the anti-proliferation effect of the Maytenus compound on H226, A2058, 786O and HeLa cancer cells and two normal epithelial cell lines, namely, 16HBE and Hecate. Nude mouse xenograft tumor model using H226 and HeLa cells examined the drug’s anticancer effect in vivo. Western blot assay studied the possible mechanism. Results The Maytenus compound indicated obvious ability to against proliferation in four strains of cancer cells, particularly against H226 cells by an IC50 of 85.47±10.06 µg/mL and against HeLa cells by an IC50 of 128.74±17.46 µg/mL. However, it had a low cytotoxicity in human normal epithelial cell lines 16HBE with an IC50 of 4,555.86±25.21 µg/mL and Hecate with an IC50 of 833.56±181.88 µg/mL. The Maytenus compound at the 2.45 g/kg oral dosages inhibited the proliferation of H226 cells and HeLa cells in nude mouse with inhibitory rates of 36.06% and 26.45%, respectively, and no organ toxicity. The Maytenus compound could significantly downregulate the expression of pEGFR, pPI3K, pAKT, pGSK3β, β-catenin, and c-MYC and upregulate the protein expression of GSK3β. Conclusions The Maytenus compound has significant anticancer activities against human cancer H226 and HeLa cells both in vitro and in vivo, highlighting it may be an anticancer medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baozhen Zeng
- Department of Cancer Biotherapy Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Tumor Hospital of Yunnan Province), Kunming 650118, China.,Department of Yunnan Tumor Research Institute, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650118, China
| | - Chunlei Ge
- Department of Cancer Biotherapy Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Tumor Hospital of Yunnan Province), Kunming 650118, China
| | - Wentao Zhao
- Department of Cancer Biotherapy Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Tumor Hospital of Yunnan Province), Kunming 650118, China
| | - Kaicong Fu
- Department of Traditional medicine research laboratory, Puer Traditional Ethnomedicine Institute, Puer 665000, China
| | - Lin Liu
- Department of Traditional medicine research laboratory, Puer Traditional Ethnomedicine Institute, Puer 665000, China
| | - Zhuying Lin
- Department of Oncology Yan'An Hospital of Kunming City, Kunming 650118, China
| | - Qiaofen Fu
- Department of Cancer Biotherapy Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Tumor Hospital of Yunnan Province), Kunming 650118, China
| | - Zhen Li
- Department of Cancer Biotherapy Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Tumor Hospital of Yunnan Province), Kunming 650118, China
| | - Ruilei Li
- Department of Cancer Biotherapy Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Tumor Hospital of Yunnan Province), Kunming 650118, China
| | - Huan Guo
- Department of Oncology Yan'An Hospital of Kunming City, Kunming 650118, China
| | - Chunyan Li
- Department of Cancer Biotherapy Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Tumor Hospital of Yunnan Province), Kunming 650118, China.,Department of Yunnan Tumor Research Institute, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650118, China
| | - Liufang Zhao
- Department of Cancer Biotherapy Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Tumor Hospital of Yunnan Province), Kunming 650118, China
| | - Hongyan Hu
- Department of Cancer Biotherapy Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Tumor Hospital of Yunnan Province), Kunming 650118, China
| | - Hanyu Yang
- Department of Traditional medicine research laboratory, Puer Traditional Ethnomedicine Institute, Puer 665000, China
| | - Wenhua Huang
- Department of Anatomy, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Medical Biomechanics, School of Basic Medical Science, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Youguang Huang
- Department of Yunnan Tumor Research Institute, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650118, China
| | - Xin Song
- Department of Cancer Biotherapy Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Tumor Hospital of Yunnan Province), Kunming 650118, China.,Department of Yunnan Tumor Research Institute, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650118, China
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