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McDonald SJ, Bullard BM, VanderVeen BN, Cardaci TD, Huss AR, Fan D, Hofseth LJ, Murphy EA. Panaxynol alleviates colorectal cancer in a murine model via suppressing macrophages and inflammation. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 2023; 325:G318-G333. [PMID: 37489869 PMCID: PMC10642997 DOI: 10.1152/ajpgi.00119.2023] [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] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Revised: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 07/26/2023]
Abstract
Currently available colorectal cancer (CRC) therapies have limited efficacy and severe adverse effects that may be overcome with the alternative use of natural compounds. We previously reported that panaxynol (PA), a bioactive component in American ginseng, possesses anticancer properties in vitro and suppresses murine colitis through its proapoptotic and anti-inflammatory properties. Because colitis is a predisposing factor of CRC and inflammation is a major driver of CRC, we sought to evaluate the therapeutic potential of PA in CRC. Azoxymethane-dextran sodium sulfate (AOM/DSS) mice (C57BL/6) were administered 2.5 mg/kg PA or vehicle 3 times/wk via oral gavage over 12 wk. PA improved clinical symptoms (P ≤ 0.05) and reduced tumorigenesis (P ≤ 0.05). This improvement may be reflective of PA's restorative effect on intestinal barrier function; PA upregulated the expression of essential tight junction and mucin genes (P ≤ 0.05) and increased the abundance of mucin-producing goblet cells (P ≤ 0.05). Given that macrophages play a substantial role in the pathogenesis of CRC and that we previously demonstrated that PA targets macrophages in colitis, we next assessed macrophages. We show that PA reduces the relative abundance of colonic macrophages within the lamina propria (P ≤ 0.05), and this was consistent with a reduction in the expression of important markers of macrophages and inflammation (P ≤ 0.05). We further confirmed PA's inhibitory effects on macrophages in vitro under CRC conditions (P ≤ 0.05). These results suggest that PA is a promising therapeutic compound to treat CRC and improve clinical symptoms given its ability to inhibit macrophages and modulate the inflammatory environment in the colon.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We report that panaxynol (PA) reduces colorectal cancer (CRC) by improving the colonic and tumor environment. Specifically, we demonstrate that PA improves crypt morphology, upregulates crucial tight junction and mucin genes, and promotes the abundance of mucin-producing goblet cells. Furthermore, PA reduces macrophages and associated inflammation, important drivers of CRC, in the colonic environment. This present study provides novel insights into the potential of PA as a therapeutic agent to ameliorate CRC tumorigenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sierra J McDonald
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, United States
| | - Brooke M Bullard
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, United States
| | - Brandon N VanderVeen
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, United States
| | - Thomas D Cardaci
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, United States
| | - Alexander R Huss
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, United States
| | - Daping Fan
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, United States
| | - Lorne J Hofseth
- Department of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences, University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy, Columbia, South Carolina, United States
| | - E Angela Murphy
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, United States
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Al-Greene NT, Means AL, Lu P, Jiang A, Schmidt CR, Chakravarthy AB, Merchant NB, Washington MK, Zhang B, Shyr Y, Deane NG, Beauchamp RD. Four jointed box 1 promotes angiogenesis and is associated with poor patient survival in colorectal carcinoma. PLoS One 2013; 8:e69660. [PMID: 23922772 PMCID: PMC3726759 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2013] [Accepted: 06/11/2013] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Angiogenesis, the recruitment and re-configuration of pre-existing vasculature, is essential for tumor growth and metastasis. Increased tumor vascularization often correlates with poor patient outcomes in a broad spectrum of carcinomas. We identified four jointed box 1 (FJX1) as a candidate regulator of tumor angiogenesis in colorectal cancer. FJX1 mRNA and protein are upregulated in human colorectal tumor epithelium as compared with normal epithelium and colorectal adenomas, and high expression of FJX1 is associated with poor patient prognosis. FJX1 mRNA expression in colorectal cancer tissues is significantly correlated with changes in known angiogenesis genes. Augmented expression of FJX1 in colon cancer cells promotes growth of xenografts in athymic mice and is associated with increased tumor cell proliferation and vascularization. Furthermore, FJX1 null mice develop significantly fewer colonic polyps than wild-type littermates after combined dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) and azoxymethane (AOM) treatment. In vitro, conditioned media from FJX1 expressing cells promoted endothelial cell capillary tube formation in a HIF1-α dependent manner. Taken together our results support the conclusion that FJX1 is a novel regulator of tumor progression, due in part, to its effect on tumor vascularization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole T. Al-Greene
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Anna L. Means
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Pengcheng Lu
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Aixiang Jiang
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Carl R. Schmidt
- Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - A. Bapsi Chakravarthy
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Nipun B. Merchant
- Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - M. Kay Washington
- Department of Pathology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Bing Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Yu Shyr
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Natasha G. Deane
- Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - R. Daniel Beauchamp
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Department of Cancer Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Abstract
During recent years, multidisciplinary studies in epidemiology and molecular biology have contributed to our understanding of the etiology of colorectal cancer; more importantly they have enabled us to approach its prevention. An impressive body of epidemiological data suggests an inverse relationship between colorectal cancer risk and consumption of diets rich in omega (omega)-3 fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) or the regular use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including aspirin. The development of strategies for the chemoprevention of colorectal cancer have been facilitated by the use of relevant animal models mimicking the neoplastic processes that occur in humans, including similarities in histopathology and molecular and genetic lesions during both the early and promotion/progression stages of carcinogenesis. Studies with the azoxymethane-F344 rat model indicate that diets rich in n-3 PUFAs, NSAIDs, selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) inhibitors, and curcumin can reduce the incidence of colon cancer. Advances in the knowledge of the mechanisms by which chemopreventive agents act offer opportunities to use combinations of specific chemopreventive agents, having clinically beneficial aggregate activity with minimal toxicity. This approach is extremely important when a promising chemopreventive agent demonstrates apparent efficacy but may produce toxic effects at high doses. Our studies show that a combination of very low doses of piroxicam (NSAID) and difluoromethylornithine, a specific inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase, or very low doses of COX-2 and HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors are more effective in inhibiting colon carcinogenesis than administration of these compounds as single agents even at higher levels. The natural history of colorectal cancer, from dysplastic aberrant crypts to adenomas and adenocarcinomas, offers multiple opportunities for assessment and intervention. Of further importance is to identify whether the molecular targets that are critical in the growth and survival of the malignant colorectal cell are modulated by n-3 PUFAs, NSAIDs, or COX-2 and iNOS inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bandaru S Reddy
- Division of Nutritional Carcinogenesis, Institute for Cancer Prevention, Valhalla, New York, NY 10595, USA.
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