Pharmacodynamics and Medicinal Chemistry of an External Chinese Herbal Formula for Mammary Precancerous Lesions

Kaempferol induces mitochondrial dysfunction and mitophagy by activating the LKB1/AMPK/MFF pathway in breast precancerous lesions

Kaempferol has been suggested to be an effective anticancer agent in several malignant tumors. However, its function and mechanisms in breast precancerous lesions remain largely elusive. Here, we showed that kaempferol induced excessive mitochondrial fission and mitochondrial damage with activated mitochondrial fission factor (MFF)-mediated dynamin-related protein (DRP) 1 mitochondrial translocation. As a result, the PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1)/Parkin signaling pathway was activated, accompanied by excessive mitophagy and reduced mitochondrial mass in cells. We also revealed that kaempferol-induced lethal mitophagy contributed to inhibiting breast precancerous lesion growth in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we verified serine/threonine kinase 11 (STK11/LKB1)/AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway deficiency in breast precancerous lesions. Moreover, LKB1/AMPK pathway reactivation by kaempferol was required for excessive mitochondrial fission and lethal mitophagy. Taken together, our findings shed new light on the molecular mechanisms related to breast cancer prevention by kaempferol and provide evidence for its potential clinical application.

The Chinese Herbal Formula Ruyan Neixiao Cream Inhibits Angiogenesis of Precancerous Breast Lesions via Regulation of Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK Signaling Pathway

Ruyan Neixiao Cream (RUc) is a traditional Chinese herbal formula which can effectively inhibit the angiogenesis of breast precancerous lesions. In order to reveal the specific mechanism, we carried out experiments in vitro and in vivo. We found that the conditioned medium of MCF-10AT cells treated with RUc transdermal solution (RUt) could significantly inhibit the proliferation, migration, invasion, tube formation of HUVECs and the capillary formation of rat aortic rings. RUt may down-regulate the expression of VEGF, MMP2, and MMP9 in MCF-10AT medium by down-regulating miR-21 and up-regulating TIMP-3 and RECK. We further confirmed in rats that the microvascular density of precancerous lesions decreased significantly after external use of RUc, which may be related to the inhibition of Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK signaling pathway related proteins. Presumptively, RUc may inhibit the angiogenesis of breast precancerous lesions by inhibiting Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK signaling pathway, thus relieving the inhibition of miR-21 on TIMP-3 and RECK, then down-regulating the secretion of angiogenic factors.

Therapeutic Efficiency of an External Chinese Herbal Formula of Mammary Precancerous Lesions by BATMAN-TCM Online Bioinformatics Analysis Tool and Experimental Validation

Ruyan Neixiao Cream (RYNXC), a patented Chinese herbal formula, was reported to have the effect of treating mammary precancerous disease. In this study, we predicted the potential targets, pathways, and diseases of the ingredients contained in each herbal of RYNXC and constructed an ingredients-targets-diseases network. Then, we analyzed molecular mechanisms of this Chinese herbal formula by MCF-10AT cells and model rats of breast precancerous lesions. BATMAN-TCM prediction showed that ESR1, PGR, PTGS2, EGFR, and Src were mRNA targets of RYNXC. Our results suggested that RYNXC transdermal fluid downregulated ESR1, PGR, PTGS2, EGFR, and Src expression at gene and protein level in MCF-10AT cells. In the rat breast precancerous lesions model, high and low dose RYNXC could also significantly reduce genes and proteins expression of ESR1, PGR, PTGS2, EGFR, and Src. Taken together these data indicate that RYNXC targets multiple molecules responsible for breast precancerous lesion and is an effective Chinese herbal formula. So RYNXC may be a promising external drug for breast precancerous lesions.