Anti-cancer effects of ethanol extract of Reynoutria japonica Houtt. radix in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells via inhibition of MAPK and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways

Polydatin protects against atherosclerosis by activating autophagy and inhibiting pyroptosis mediated by the NLRP3 inflammasome

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Polydatin is a bioactive ingredient extracted from the roots of the Reynoutria japonica Houtt, and it is a natural precursor of resveratrol. Polydatin is a useful inhibitor of inflammation and acts as a regulator of lipid metabolism. However, the specific mechanisms of action of polydatin in atherosclerosis (AS) remains poorly explained.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of polydatin on inflammation induced by the inflammatory cell death and autophagy in AS.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Apolipoprotein E knockout (ApoE^-/-) mice were fed with a high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks to induce the formation of atherosclerotic lesions. The ApoE^-/- mice were then randomly divided into the following six groups: (1) model group, (2) simvastatin group, (3) MCC950 group, (4) low dose polydatin group (Polydatin-L), (5) medium dose polydatin group (Polydatin-M), (6) and high dose polydatin group (Polydatin-H). The C57BL/6J mice were treated as controls and administered a standard chow diet. All mice were gavaged once daily for 8 weeks. The distribution of aortic plaques was observed by En Oil-red-O staining and hematoxylin and eosin staining (H&E). Oil-red-O staining was used to observe lipid content in the aortic sinus plaque; Masson trichrome staining was used to gauge collagen content in the plaque; and immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and CD68 macrophages marker expression levels in the plaque, which were used to assess the vulnerability index of the plaque. The lipid levels were measured using an enzymatic assay with an automatic biochemical analyzer. The level of inflammation was detected by enzyme-linked-immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Autophagosomes were detected by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Pyroptosis was detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL)/caspase-1 and other proteins related to the expression levels of autophagy and pyroptosis were detected by Western blot analysis.

RESULTS

Nucleotide oligomerization (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) family pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation leads to pyroptosis, including the cleavage of caspase-1, interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18 production, and the co-expression of TUNEL/caspase-1-all of these are inhibited by polydatin, whose inhibitory effect is similar to that of MCC950, a specific inhibitor of NLRP3. Further, polydatin decreased the protein expression of NLRP3 and the phosphorylated mammalian target of rapamycin (p-mTOR), and increased the number of autophagosomes as well as the increased the cytoplasmic microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3)/autophagosome membrane-type LC3 ratio. Moreover, the protein expression levels of p62 decreased, suggesting that polydatin can increase autophagy.

CONCLUSIONS

Polydatin can inhibit the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and cleavage of caspase-1, thereby inhibiting pyroptosis and secretion of inflammatory cytokines, and promoting autophagy through NLRP3/mTOR pathway in AS.

Evaluation of the Biological Properties of an Optimized Extract of Polygonum cuspidatum Using Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction

Phytochemicals are natural compounds found in plants that have potential health benefits such as antioxidants, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties, and immune reinforcement. Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc. is a source rich in resveratrol, traditionally consumed as an infusion. In this study, P. cuspidatum root extraction conditions were optimized to increase antioxidant capacity (DPPH, ABTS+), extraction yield, resveratrol concentration, and total polyphenolic compounds (TPC) via ultrasonic-assisted extraction using a Box-Behnken design (BBD). The biological activities of the optimized extract and the infusion were compared. The optimized extract was obtained using a solvent/root powder ratio of 4, 60% ethanol concentration, and 60% ultrasonic power. The optimized extract showed higher biological activities than the infusion. The optimized extract contained 16.6 mg mL^-1 resveratrol, high antioxidant activities (135.1 µg TE mL^-1 for DPPH, and 230.4 µg TE mL^-1 for ABTS+), TPC (33.2 mg GAE mL^-1), and extraction yield of 12.4%. The EC₅₀ value (effective concentration 50) of the optimized extract was 0.194 µg mL^-1, which revealed high cytotoxic activity against the Caco-2 cell line. The optimized extract could be used to develop functional beverages with high antioxidant capacity, antioxidants for edible oils, functional foods, and cosmetics.

Development of alternative herbals remedy for gastric cancer based on transcriptomic analysis of immune infiltration and ferroptosis

Objective: Screening out potential herbal medicines and herbal ingredients for the treatment of gastric cancer based on transcriptomic analysis of immune infiltration and ferroptosis. Methods: Gene expression profiles of gastric tumour tissues and normal tissue samples were obtained from the GEO database and the samples were analysed for immune cell infiltration condition and differential expressed genes of ferroptosis. Key genes were screened by protein-protein interaction (PPI) and enrichment analysis, and molecular docking was used to predict and preliminary validate potential herbal and traditional Chinese medicine components for gastric cancer based on the key genes. Finally, RT-QPCR was used to validate the prediction results. Results: Immune cell infiltration analysis revealed high levels of infiltration of activated CD4 memory T cells, monocytes, M0 macrophages in gastric tumor tissues, while plasma cells and resting mast cells had higher levels of infiltration in the paraneoplastic tissues. Differential gene expression analysis identified 1,012 upregulated genes and 880 downregulated genes, of which 84 immune related differentially expressed genes such as CTSB, PGF and PLAU and 10 ferroptosis-related differentially expressed genes such as HSF1, NOX4 and NF2 were highly expressed in gastric cancer tissues. The results of enrichment analysis showed that they mainly involve 343 biological processes such as extracellular matrix organization and extracellular structural organization; 37 cellular components such as complexes of collagen trimer and basement membrane; 35 molecular functions such as signal receptor activator activity and receptor ligand activity; 19 regulatory pathways such as cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions and retinol metabolism. Finally, two key genes, TLR4 and KRAS, were selected and 12 herbal medicines such as Radix Salviae liguliobae, Rhizoma Coptidis, Rhizoma Polygoni cuspidati and 27 herbal ingredients such as resveratrol, salvianolic acid b were predicted on the basis of key genes. Molecular docking results showed that KRAS binds tightly to coumarin and magnolol, while TLR4 can bind tightly to resveratrol, curcumin, salvianolic acid b, shikonin. Subsequently, the effect of resveratrol and magnolol was experimentally verified. Conclusion: Herbal medicines such as S. liguliobae, Rhizoma Coptidis, Rhizoma P. cuspidati and herbal ingredients such as resveratrol, curcumin, salvianolic acid b may provide research directions and alternative therapeutic approaches for immunomodulation of TME and ferroptosis of tumour cells in gastric cancer.

Development of natural products for anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy against cancer

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) immune checkpoint is one of the most promising therapeutic targets for cancer immunotherapy, but several challenges remain in current anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. Natural products, mainly derived from traditional medicine, could improve and expand anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy because of their advantages such as large diversity and multi-target effects.

AIM OF THE STUDY

This review summarize natural products, raw extracts, and traditional medicines with pharmacological effects associated with the PD-1/PD-L1 axis, particularly PD-L1.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Electronic literature databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, and ScienceDirect, and online drugs and chemicals databases, including DrugBank, ZINC, PubChem, STITCH, and CTD, were searched without date limitation by February 2021. 'Natural product or herb or herbal plant or traditional medicine' and 'PD-L1' and 'Cancer immunotherapy' were used as the search keywords. Among 112 articles identified in database searching, 54 articles are full text articles, reporting in silico, in vitro, in vivo and clinical trials. 68 articles included are review articles and grey literature such as thesis and congress abstracts.

RESULTS

Several natural products and traditional medicines have exhibited diverse and multi-functional effects including direct blockade of PD-1/PD-L1 interactions, modulation of PD-L1 expression, and cooperation with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors.

CONCLUSION

Natural products and traditional medicines can facilitate the development of more effective and acceptable diverse strategies for anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy, but further exploration of natural products and pharmaceutical techniques is required.

Review On Documented Medicinal Plants Used For The Treatment Of Cancer

Background:

Cancer is a frightful disease and it is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Naturally derived compounds are gaining interest of research workers as they have less toxic side effects as compared to currently used treatments such as chemotherapy. Plants are the pool of chemical compounds which provides a promising future for research on cancer.

Objective:

This review paper provides updated information gathered on medicinal plants and isolated phytoconstituents used as anticancer agents and summarises the plant extracts and their isolated chemical constituents exhibiting anticancer potential on clinical trials.

Methods:

An extensive bibliographic investigation was carried out by analysing worldwide established scientific databases like SCOPUS, PUBMED, SCIELO, ScienceDirect, Springerlink, Web of Science, Wiley, SciFinder and Google Scholar etc. In next few decades, herbal medicine may become a new epoch of medical system.

Results:

Many researches are going on medicinal plants for the treatment of cancer but it is a time to increase further experimental studies on plant extracts and their chemical constituents to find out their mechanism of action at molecular level.

Conclusion:

The article may help many researchers to start off further experimentation that might lead to the drugs for the cancer treatment.

Plant Extracts and their Secondary Metabolites as Modulators of Kinases

Natural Products (NP), specifically from medicinal plants or herbs, have been extensively utilized to analyze the fundamental mechanisms of ultimate natural sciences as well as therapeutics. Isolation of secondary metabolites from these sources and their respective biological properties, along with their lower toxicities and cost-effectiveness, make them a significant research focus for drug discovery. In recent times, there has been a considerable focus on isolating new chemical entities from natural flora to meet the immense demand for kinase modulators, and also to overcome major unmet medical challenges in relation to signal transduction pathways. The signal transduction systems are amongst the foremost pathways involved in the maintenance of life and protein kinases play an imperative part in these signaling pathways. It is important to find a kinase inhibitor, as it can be used not only to study cell biology but can also be used as a drug candidate for cancer and metabolic disorders. A number of plant extracts and their isolated secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, phenolics, terpenoids, and alkaloids have exhibited activities against various kinases. In the current review, we have presented a brief overview of some important classes of plant secondary metabolites as kinase modulators. Moreover, a number of phytocompounds with kinase inhibition potential, isolated from different plant species, are also discussed.

miR-494 promotes progression of retinoblastoma via PTEN through PI3K/AKT signaling pathway

Increasing evidence has indicated that the dysregulation of microRNA (miRNA) occur in the pathogenesis of retinoblastoma (RB). Aim of the present study was to investigate the possible role of miR-494 (miR-494-3p) in RB. It was demonstrated that miR-494 expression was increased in RB tissue samples and cell lines. Also, it was prominently associated with clinicopathological features. Functional assays showed that RB cell proliferation, invasion and migration can be promoted by miR-494 overexpression. Besides, phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) was verified as a possible target of miR-494 by a luciferase assay, western blot and qRT-PCR assay in RB. miR-494 and PTEN expression was negatively related in a correlation analysis on tumor tissues of 66 patients. In addition, PTEN was proved to reverse miR-494 effect on RB cell progression. Moreover, PI3K/AKT signaling pathway was validated to take part in RB progression. Taken together, the current study proposes that miR-494 might function as a tumor promoter and regulates RB progression through targeting PTEN.

Phytochemical analysis and biological activities of in vitro cultured Nidularium procerum, a bromeliad vulnerable to extinction

This study reports the first phytochemical and biological characterization in treatment of adrenocortical carcinoma cells (H295R) of extracts from Nidularium procerum, an endemic bromeliad of Atlantic Forest vulnerable to extinction. Extracts of dry leaves obtained from in vitro-grown plants were recovered by different extraction methods, viz., hexanoic, ethanolic, and hot and cold aqueous. Chromatography-based metabolite profiling and chemical reaction methods revealed the presence of flavonoids, steroids, lipids, vitamins, among other antioxidant and antitumor biomolecules. Eicosanoic and tricosanoic acids, α-Tocopherol (vitamin E) and scutellarein were, for the first time, described in the Nidularium group. Ethanolic and aqueous extracts contained the highest phenolic content (107.3 mg of GAE.100 g-1) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, respectively. The immunomodulatory and antitumoral activities of aqueous extracts were assessed using specific tests of murine macrophages modulation (RAW 264.7) and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay against adrenocortical carcinoma cell line, respectively. The aqueous extract improved cell adhesion and phagocytic activities and phagolysossomal formation of murine macrophages. This constitutes new data on the Bromeliaceae family, which should be better exploited to the production of new phytomedicines for pharmacological uses.