Abnormal activation of the Wnt3a/β-catenin signaling pathway promotes the expression of T-box transcription factor 3(TBX3) and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition pathway to mediate the occurrence of adenomyosis

BACKGROUND

T-box transcription factor 3(TBX3) is a transcription factor that can regulate cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, and migration in different tumor cells; however, its role in adenomyosis (ADM) has not been previously studied. Some of ADM's pathophysiological characteristics are similar to those of malignant tumors (e.g., abnormal proliferation, migration, and invasion).

METHODS AND RESULTS

We hypothesized that TBX3 might have a role in ADM. We used tamoxifen-induced Institute of Cancer research (ICR) mice to establish ADM disease model. The study procedure included western blotting and immunohistochemistry to analyze protein levels; additionally, we used intraperitoneal injection of Wnt/β-catenin pathway inhibitor XAV-939 to study the relationship between TBX3 and Wnt/β-catenin pathway as well as Anti-proliferation cell nuclear antigen( PCNA) and TUNEL to detect cell proliferation and apoptosis, respectively. TBX3 overexpression and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in ADM mice was found to be associated with activation of the Wnt3a/β-catenin pathway. Treatment with XAV-939 in ADM mice led to the inhibition of both TBX3 and EMT; moreover, abnormal cell proliferation was suppressed, the depth of invasion of endometrium cells was limited. Thus, the use of XAV-939 effectively inhibited further invasion of endometrial cells.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that TBX3 may play an important role in the development of ADM. The expression of TBX3 in ADM was regulated by the Wnt3a/β-catenin pathway. The activation of the Wnt3a/β-catenin pathway in ADM promoted TBX3 expression and induced the occurrence of EMT, thus promoting cell proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis, ultimately accelerating the development of ADM. The study provides a reference for the diagnosis of ADM.

Dietary Grape Seed Proanthocyanidin Alleviates the Liver Injury Induced by Long-Term High-Fat Diets in Sprague Dawley Rats

In mammals, the liver is the most important organ that plays a vital function in lipid metabolism. Grape seed proanthocyanidin (GSPE) is a kind of natural polyphenolic compound primarily obtained from grape skin and seeds. Recent research found it had high bioavailability in defending against obesity, hyperlipidemia, inflammatory, oxidative stress, and targeting liver tissue. However, the mechanism of GSPE in regulating obesity induced by dietary high-fat (HF) was not fully understood, particularly the influences on liver functions. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of GSPE supplementation on the liver function and lipid metabolic parameters in rats fed HF diets long-term. A total of 40 healthy female Sprague Dawley rats were selected. After 8 weeks of obesity model feeding, the rats were randomly divided into four treatments: NC, standard diet; NC + GSPE, standard diet + 500 mg/kg body weight GSPE; HF, high-fat diet; HG + GSPE, high fat diet + 500 mg/kg body weight GSPE. Results indicated that long-term HF feeding caused severe liver problems including megalohepatia, steatosis, inflammation, and hepatocyte apoptosis. The supplementation of GSPE alleviated these symptoms. The results of the current experiment confirmed that GSPE addition up-regulated the expression of the Wnt3a/β-catenin signaling pathway, thereby restraining the liver cell endoplasmic reticulum stress and hepatocyte apoptosis. Furthermore, the microRNA-103 may play a role in this signal-regulated pathway. In summary, GSPE had a protective effect on the liver and the current experiment provided a reference for the application of GSPE in animal nutrition as a kind of natural feed additive.

Network Pharmacology and Experimental Verification Strategies to Illustrate the Mechanism of Jian-Pi-Yi-Shen Formula in Suppressing Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition

Jian-Pi-Yi-Shen formula (JPYSF), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been recommended to treat renal fibrosis for decades. Previous studies had shown that JPYSF could inhibit epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), an important regulatory role in renal fibrosis. However, the mechanism of JPYSF action is largely unknown. In this study, network pharmacology and experimental verification were combined to elucidate and identify the potential mechanism of JPYSF against renal fibrosis by suppressing EMT at molecular and pathway levels. Network pharmacology was first performed to explore the mechanism of JPYSF against renal fibrosis targeting EMT, and then a 5/6 nephrectomy (5/6 Nx)-induced rat model of renal fibrosis was selected to verify the predictive results by Masson’s trichrome stains and western blot analysis. Two hundred and thirty-two compounds in JPYSF were selected for the network approach analysis, which identified 137 candidate targets of JPYSF and 4,796 known therapeutic targets of EMT. The results of the Gene Ontology (GO) function enrichment analysis included 2098, 88, and 133 GO terms for biological processes (BPs), molecular functions (MFs), and cell component entries, respectively. The top 10 enrichment items of BP annotations included a response to a steroid hormone, a metal ion, oxygen levels, and so on. Cellular composition (CC) is mainly enriched in membrane raft, membrane microdomain, membrane region, etc. The MF of JPYSF analysis on EMT was predominately involved in proximal promoter sequence-specific DNA binding, protein heterodimerization activity, RNA polymerase II proximal promoter sequence-specific DNA binding, and so on. The involvement signaling pathway of JPYSF in the treatment of renal fibrosis targeting EMT was associated with anti-fibrosis, anti-inflammation, podocyte protection, and metabolism regulation. Furthermore, the in vivo experiments confirmed that JPYSF effectively ameliorated interstitial fibrosis and inhibited the overexpression of α-SMA, Wnt3a, and β-catenin, and increased the expression of E-cadherin by wnt3a/β-catenin signaling pathway in 5/6 Nx-induced renal fibrosis rats. Using an integrative network pharmacology-based approach and experimental verification, the study showed that JPYSF had therapeutic effects on EMT by regulating multi-pathway, among which one proven pathway was the Wnt3a/β-catenin signaling pathway. These findings provide insights into the renoprotective effects of JPYSF against EMT, which could suggest directions for further research of JPYSF in attenuating renal fibrosis by suppressing EMT.

Tribulus saponins inhibit proliferation, migration, and invasion of gastric cancer cells by regulating Wnt3a/β-catenin signaling pathway

BACKGROUND

Tribulus terrestris saponins are active ingredients extracted from the traditional Chinese medicine tribulus terrestris, which have anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, immune regulation, and other pharmacological activities. Studies have shown that tribulus terrestris saponins can inhibit the growth of gastric cancer cells and induce apoptosis.

AIM

To investigate the mechanism of tribulus terrestris saponins to inhibit the proliferation, migration, and invasion of gastric cancer cells.

METHODS

Gastric cancer cell line HGC-27 was used in this study. HGC-27 cells were treated with 0, 20 mg/L, and 40 mg/L tribulus terrestris saponins. Meanwhile, HGC-27 cells were transfected with Wnt3a siRNA and control siRNA (NC) and then treated with 40 mg/L tribulus terrestris saponins. MTT assay, wound healing assay, and Transwell assay were used to detect cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, respectively. Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of p21, proliferating nuclear antigen-67 (Ki67), epithelial cadherin (E-cadherin), neural cadherin (N-cadherin), Vimentin, Wnt3a, and β-catenin in the treated cells.

RESULTS

Compared with the blank control group, the proliferation activity, migration rate, and number of invaded gastric cancer cells in the tribulus terrestris saponins 20 mg/L and 40 mg/L groups were significantly reduced, p21 and E-cadherin protein expression increased, and Ki67, N-cadherin, Vimentin, Wnt3a, and β-catenin protein expression decreased. Compared with the tribulus terrestris saponins + NC siRNA group, the tribulus terrestris saponins + Wnt3a siRNA group had significantly lower proliferation activity, migration rate, and number of invaded cells, the expression of Wnt3a, β-catenin, Ki67, N-cadherin, and Vimentin decreased, and the expression of p21 and E-cadherin protein increased.

CONCLUSION

Tribulus terrestris saponins may inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells by inhibiting the Wnt3a/β-catenin signaling pathway and epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

[Effects of orchinol on invasion, migration and Wnt3a/β-catenin signaling pathway of human gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the inhibitory effect of the main 9,10-dihydrophenanthrene orchinol isolated from Spiranthes sinensis Radix et Herba on the invasion and migration of human gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells and its preliminary molecular mechanism. SGC-7901 cells were cultured in vitro, after the cells were treated with different final concentrations(5, 10, 20, 40, 80 μmol·L⁻¹) of orchinol for 24, 48 or 72 hours, the effect of orchinol on cell viability was measured by MTT assay. Wound healing and Transwell assays were performed to determine the effects of different final concentrations(5, 10, 20, 40 μmol·L⁻¹) of orchinol for 48 hour on invasion and migration abilities of SGC-7901 cells, respectively. The protein expression levels of β-catenin, Wnt-3α, DvL2, cyclinD1 and GSK-3β were detected by Western blot. The results showed that 5-80 μmol·L⁻¹ orchinol inhibited the viability of SGC-7901 cells in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner, and the IC₅₈ values of 24, 48 and 72 hours were 77.79, 42.96 and 7.85 μmol·L⁻¹, respectively. Compared with the control group, the ability of invasion and migration of SGC-7901 cells was significantly inhibited after treated with 5, 10 and 20 μmol·L⁻¹ orchinol for 48 hours (P<0.05, P<0.01), and the dose-effect relationship was observed. The results of Western blot showed that orchinol could significantly down-regulate the protein expression levels of β-catenin, Wnt3a, DvL2 and cyclinD1, and up-regulate the protein expression level of GSK-3β(P<0.05, P<0.01, P<0.001). The above results suggest that orchinol can obviously inhibit the invasion and migration of SGC-7901 cells, which may be related to its inhibition of Wnt3a/β-catenin signaling pathway and the proteins expression of downstream genes.