The ester derivatives obtained by C‐ring modification of podophyllotoxin induced apoptosis and inhibited proliferation in Hemangioma Endothelial Cells via down‐regulation of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway

Dual inhibition of topoisomerase II and microtubule of podophyllotoxin derivative 5p overcomes cancer multidrug resistance

Compound 5p is a 4β-N-substituted podophyllotoxin derivative, which exhibited potent activity toward drug-resistant K562/A02 cells and decreased MDR-1 mRNA expression. Here, we further investigated its detail mechanism and tested its antitumor activity. 5p exerted catalytic inhibition of topoisomerase IIα, and didn't show the inhibitor of topoisomerase I. 5p exhibited the inhibitory effect on microtubule polymerization. 5p showed potent anti-proliferation against breast cancer, oral squamous carcinoma, and their drug-resistant cell lines, with resistance index of 0.61 and 0.86, respectively. 5p downregulated the expression levels of P-gp in KBV200 cells and BCRP in MCF7/ADR cells in dose-dependent manner. Moreover, 5p induced KB and KBV200 cells arrest at G2/M phase by up-regulating the expression of γ-H2AX, p-Histone H3 and cyclin B1. 5p induced apoptosis and pyroptosis by increased the expression levels of cleaved-PARP, cleaved-caspase3, N-GSDME as well as LDH release in KB and KBV200 cells. In addition, 5p efficiently impaired tumor growth in KB xenograft mice. Conclusively, this work elucidated the dual inhibitor of topoisomerase II and microtubule of 5p and its mechanism of overcoming the multidrug resistance, indicating that 5p exerts the antitumor potentiality.

Podophyllic Aldehyde, a Podophyllotoxin Derivate, Elicits Different Cell Cycle Profiles Depending on the Tumor Cell Line: A Systematic Proteomic Analysis

When new antitumor therapy drugs are discovered, it is essential to address new target molecules from the point of view of chemical structure and to carry out efficient and systematic evaluation. In the case of natural products and derived compounds, it is of special importance to investigate chemomodulation to further explore antitumoral pharmacological activities. In this work, the compound podophyllic aldehyde, a cyclolignan derived from the chemomodulation of the natural product podophyllotoxin, has been evaluated for its viability, influence on the cell cycle, and effects on intracellular signaling. We used functional proteomics characterization for the evaluation. Compared with the FDA-approved drug etoposide (another podophyllotoxin derivative), we found interesting results regarding the cytotoxicity of podophyllic aldehyde. In addition, we were able to observe the effect of mitotic arrest in the treated cells. The use of podophyllic aldehyde resulted in increased cytotoxicity in solid tumor cell lines, compared to etoposide, and blocked the cycle more successfully than etoposide. High-throughput analysis of the deregulated proteins revealed a selective antimitotic mechanism of action of podophyllic aldehyde in the HT-29 cell line, in contrast with other solid and hematological tumor lines. Also, the apoptotic profile of podophyllic aldehyde was deciphered. The cell death mechanism is activated independently of the cell cycle profile. The results of these targeted analyses have also shown a significant response to the signaling of kinases, key proteins involved in signaling cascades for cell proliferation or metastasis. Thanks to this comprehensive analysis of podophyllic aldehyde, remarkable cytotoxic, antimitotic, and other antitumoral features have been discovered that will repurpose this compound for further chemical transformations and antitumoral analysis.

MicroRNA‑203a‑3p improves bleomycin and pingyangmycin sensitivity by inactivating the PI3K/AKT pathway in hemangioma

MicroRNAs (miRs) have been found to play a fundamental role in the pathology and progression of hemangioma. Of note, miR-203a-3p prevents hemangioma progression via inactivation of the PI3K/AKT pathway. Bleomycin and pingyangmycin are drugs used in sclerotherapy, but certain hemangioma patients experience drug resistance, leading to poor clinical outcomes. The present study aimed to explore the impact of miR-203a-3p on bleomycin and pingyangmycin sensitivity in hemangioma, as well as the involvement of the PI3K/AKT pathway. miR-203a-3p or negative control mimics were transfected into human hemangioma endothelial cells, which were treated with 0-20 µM bleomycin or pingyangmycin. Subsequently, 740 Y-P, a PI3K/AKT pathway agonist, was added. Cell viability, rate of apoptosis and the expression levels of proteins involved in the PI3K/AKT pathway, including phosphorylated (p)-PI3K, PI3K, p-AKT and AKT, were detected. miR-203a-3p overexpression significantly decreased the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of bleomycin (5.84±0.87 vs. 14.23±2.17 µM; P<0.01) and pingyangmycin (5.13±0.55 vs. 12.04±1.86 µM; P<0.01), compared with untreated cells. In addition, under bleomycin or pingyangmycin treatment, miR-203a-3p overexpression significantly reduced the proportion of EdU positive cells (both P<0.05) and B-cell leukemia/lymphoma-2 (BCL2) protein expression levels (both P<0.05), whilst increasing cell apoptosis rate (both P<0.05) and cleaved caspase 3 protein expression levels (both P<0.05) compared with untreated controls. Furthermore, miR-203a-3p overexpression significantly inhibited the phosphorylation of PI3K and AKT (both P<0.05), an effect that was significantly diminished by 740 Y-P treatment (both P<0.01). In addition, 740 Y-P significantly increased IC50 values of bleomycin (P<0.01) and pingyangmycin (P<0.001) and also significantly increased the proportion of EdU-positive cells and BCL2 protein expression levels, while decreasing the apoptosis rate and cleaved caspase 3 protein expression levels in cells treated with bleomycin or pingyangmycin (all P<0.05). Of note, 740 Y-P weakened the effect of miR-203a-3p overexpression on the aforementioned cellular characteristics. The present study demonstrated that miR-203a-3p improved the sensitivity of cells to bleomycin and pingyangmycin treatment by inhibiting PI3K/AKT signaling in hemangioma.

Revealing the mechanism of 755-nm long-pulsed alexandrite laser in inhibiting infantile hemangioma endothelial cells through transcriptome sequencing

Laser therapy has shown promising outcomes in treating infantile hemangiomas. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying laser treatment for IH remain incompletely elucidated. This study aimed to unravel the molecular mechanisms of laser therapy in IH treatment. We evaluated the inhibitory effects of laser treatment on the proliferation and promotion of apoptosis in human hemangioma endothelial cells (HemECs) through cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, Hoechst 33342 staining, and flow cytometric analysis. Transcriptome sequencing analysis of HemECs following laser treatment revealed a significant decrease in the expression level of the GSTM5 gene. The qRT-PCR and western blot analysis also showed that GSTM5 expression in HemECs was downregulated compared to human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), and concomitantly, the p62-Nrf2 pathway was suppressed. Using siRNA to downregulate GSTM5 expression, we observed that inhibiting GSTM5 expression could restrain cell proliferation, elevate intracellular ROS levels, and induce apoptosis in HemECs. Furthermore, upon inhibition of the p62-Nrf2 pathway using p62-specific siRNA, a significant decrease in GSTM5 expression and an elevation in intracellular ROS levels were noted in laser-treated HemECs. These findings suggested that laser treatment may operate by inhibiting the p62-Nrf2 pathway, thereby downregulating GSTM5 expression, elevating ROS levels, and consequently inducing apoptosis in HemECs.