Chemical structures and induction of cell death via heat shock protein inhibition of the prenylated phloroglucinol derivatives isolated from Hypericum erectum

Mechanistic study of heat shock protein 60-mediated apoptosis in DF-1 cells

Heat shock proteins (HSP) are a group of highly conserved molecular chaperones found in various organisms and have been associated with tumorigenesis, tumor progression, and metastasis. However, the relationship between HSP60 and apoptosis remains elusive. The aim of this study was to explore the role and regulatory mechanisms of apoptosis in response to altered HSP60 expression. We generated DF-1 cell lines of both HSP60 overexpression and knockdown and assessed their impact on apoptosis levels using ELISA and flow cytometry analyses. Additionally, we examined the transcription and protein expression levels of apoptosis-related signaling factors using fluorescence quantitative PCR (qPCR) and Western blotting analyses. Heat shock proteins 60 overexpression led to a significant decrease in apoptosis levels in DF-1 cells, which could be attributed to the downregulation of BAX and BAK expression, the upregulation of Bcl-2, and the decreased expression of Caspase 3. Conversely, HSP60 knockdown led to a substantial increase in apoptosis levels in DF-1 cells, facilitated by the downregulation of BAX and Bcl-2 expression, and the upregulation of BAK expression, which increased Caspase 3 levels, thereby promoting apoptosis. The findings of our study provide the first evidence of the inhibitory effect of HSP60 on apoptosis in DF-1 cells. These observations have significant implications for disease progression and cancer research, with potential medical applications.

Linderapyrone analogue LPD-01 as a cancer treatment agent by targeting importin7

The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays important roles in several cancer cells, including cell proliferation and development. We previously succeeded in synthesizing a small molecule compound inhibiting the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, named LPD-01 (1), and 1 inhibited the growth of human colorectal cancer (HT-29) cells. In this study, we revealed that 1 inhibits the growth of HT-29 cells stronger than that of another human colorectal cancer (SW480) cells. Therefore, we have attempted to identify the target proteins of 1 in HT-29 cells. Firstly, we investigated the effect on the expression levels of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway-related proteins. As a result, 1 inhibited the expression of target proteins of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway (c-Myc and Survivin) and their genes, whereas the amount of transcriptional co-activator (β-catenin) was not decreased, suggesting that 1 inhibited the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway without affecting β-catenin. Next, we investigated the target proteins of 1 using magnetic FG beads. Chemical pull-down assay combined with mass spectrometry suggested that 1 directly binds to importin7. As expected, 1 inhibited the nuclear translocation of importin7 cargoes such as Smad2 and Smad3 in TGF-β-stimulated HT-29 cells. In addition, the knockdown of importin7 by siRNA reduced the expression of target genes of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. These results suggest that importin7 is one of the target proteins of 1 for inhibition of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

Azaphilones produced by Penicillium maximae with their cell death-inducing activity on Adriamycin-treated cancer cell

BACKGROUND

Heat shock proteins (Hsps) are overexpressed in several tumors and contribute to cell proliferation, metastasis, and anticancer drug resistance. Therefore, Hsp inhibitors have enhanced cytotoxicity as chemotherapeutic agents and may be effective with a reduced dosage for tumor therapy to avoid side effects.

RESULTS

Four new azaphilones, maximazaphilones I-IV (1-4), and three known compounds (5-7) have been isolated from the airborne-derived fungus Penicillium maximae. Inhibitory effects of isolated compounds against induction of Hsp105 were evaluated by the luciferase assay system using Hsp105 promoter. In this assay, 2-4, 6, and 7 significantly inhibited hsp105 promoter activity without cytotoxicity. In addition, all isolated compounds except for 5 significantly induced the death of Adriamycin (ADR)-treated HeLa cells. Interestingly, 1-4, 6, and 7 didn't show anti-proliferative and cell death-inducing activity without ADR.

CONCLUSION

This study revealed the chemical structures of maximazaphilones I-IV (1-4) and the potency of azaphilones may be useful for cancer treatment and reducing the dose of anticancer agents. In addition, one of the mechanisms of cell death-inducing activity for 2-4, 6, and 7 was suggested to be inhibitory effects of Hsp105 expression.

Anti-Proliferative Effects of Iridoids from Valeriana fauriei on Cancer Stem Cells

We isolated seven new iridoid glucosides (valerianairidoids I-VII; 1-3, 6, 7, 9, and 12) and six known compounds from the methanol extract of the dried rhizomes and roots of Valeriana fauriei. Chemical and spectroscopic data were used to elucidate the chemical structures of the seven new iridoid glucosides, and their absolute configurations were determined by comparing their electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra with those determined experimentally. Aglycones 1a, 6a, and 9a, which were obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis of the isolated iridoid glucosides, exhibited anti-proliferative activities against cancer stem cells (CSCs) established by a sphere-formation assay using human breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) and human astrocytoma (U-251MG) cells. Interestingly, these iridoids selectively showed anti-proliferative activities against CSCs from MDA-MB-231 cells. These results suggest that the iridoids obtained in this study may have potency as a breast cancer treatment and as preventive agent via exterminating CSCs.

Hypericum Genus as a Natural Source for Biologically Active Compounds

Hypericum L. genus plants are distributed worldwide, with numerous species identified throughout all continents, except Antarctica. These plant species are currently used in various systems of traditional medicine to treat mild depression, wounds and burns, diarrhea, pain, fevers, and their secondary metabolites previously shown, and the in vitro and/or in vivo cytotoxic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antihyperglycemic, and hepatoprotective activities, as well as the acetylcholinesterase and monoamine oxidase inhibitory activities. We conducted a systematic bibliographic search according to the Cochrane Collaboration guidelines to answer the question: "What is known about plants of Hypericum genus as a source of natural products with potential clinical biological activity?" We documented 414 different natural products with confirmed in vitro/in vivo biological activities, and 58 different Hypericum plant species as sources for these natural products. Phloroglucinols, acylphloroglucinols, xanthones, and benzophenones were the main chemical classes identified. The selective cytotoxicity against tumor cells, cell protection, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antidepressant, anti-Alzheimer's, and adipogenesis-inhibition biological activities are described. Acylphloroglucinols were the most frequent compounds with anticancer and cell-protection mechanisms. To date, no work has been published with a full descriptive list directly relating secondary metabolites to their species of origin, plant parts used, extraction methodologies, mechanisms of action, and biological activities.