Babao Dan induces gastric cancer cell apoptosis via regulating MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways

Cytokine Storm in COVID-19: Insight into Pathological Mechanisms and Therapeutic Benefits of Chinese Herbal Medicines

Cytokine storm (CS) is the main driver of SARS-CoV-2-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in severe coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). The pathological mechanisms of CS are quite complex and involve multiple critical molecular targets that turn self-limited and mild COVID-19 into a severe and life-threatening concern. At present, vaccines are strongly recommended as safe and effective treatments for preventing serious illness or death from COVID-19. However, effective treatment options are still lacking for people who are at the most risk or hospitalized with severe disease. Chinese herbal medicines have been shown to improve the clinical outcomes of mild to severe COVID-19 as an adjunct therapy, particular preventing the development of mild to severe ARDS. This review illustrates in detail the pathogenesis of CS-involved ARDS and its associated key molecular targets, cytokines and signalling pathways. The therapeutic targets were identified particularly in relation to the turning points of the development of COVID-19, from mild symptoms to severe ARDS. Preclinical and clinical studies were reviewed for the effects of Chinese herbal medicines together with conventional therapies in reducing ARDS symptoms and addressing critical therapeutic targets associated with CS. Multiple herbal formulations, herbal extracts and single bioactive phytochemicals with or without conventional therapies demonstrated strong anti-CS effects through multiple mechanisms. However, evidence from larger, well-designed clinical trials is lacking and their detailed mechanisms of action are yet to be well elucidated. More research is warranted to further evaluate the therapeutic value of Chinese herbal medicine for CS in COVID-19-induced ARDS.

OIP5-AS1/CD147/TRPM7 axis promotes gastric cancer metastasis by regulating apoptosis related PI3K-Akt signaling

Background

To explore the mechanism of OIP5-AS1/CD147/TRPM7 axis to gastric cancer (GC) metastasis.

Methods

Bioinformatic analysis was performed to pick up the candidate genes associated with regulation GC metastasis. Using GC cell lines, AGS and MKN-45 as research objects, identify the effect of candidate genes on GC metastasis, judge cell proliferation status by MTT assay and cell clone number, and detect cell migration by Transwell and Wound-healing assay. The molecular mechanism of CD147/OIP5/TRPM7 axis regulating GC metastasis was further explored by RNA sequencing. The key signaling pathways were subsequently verified by flow cytometry and WB.

Results

Bioinformatic analysis suggested OIP5-AS1/CD147/TRPM7 axis may be involving in GC metastasis. The RNA interference experiment proved that after gene interference, the proliferation ability of GC cells decreased significantly (P<0.05), which was manifested in the reduction of the number of cell clones. In addition, the migration ability of GC cells was also affected, which was based on the results of Wound Healing (P<0.05). CD147, OIP5-AS1 and TRPM7 all have harmful effects on GC cells. The relationship between OIP5-AS1 and CD147/TRPM7 was detected by RNA immunoprecipitation. Moreover, the RNA sequencing data indicated that CD147/OIP5-AS1/TRPM7 may coordinately regulate the PI3K-AKT pathway related to GC cell apoptosis, thereby affecting the proliferation and migration of GC cells. After RNA interference, the level of apoptosis increased both in AGS and MKN-45 cells. Meanwhile, the expression of pro-apoptotic proteins Caspase9 and BAX were up-regulated (P<0.05). In addition, the expression of PI3K and AKT proteins was reduced (P<0.05). The mouse tumorigenesis experiment corroborated the results of the in vitro study.

Conclusion

OIP5-AS1/CD147/TRPM7 axis reduces GC cell proliferation by regulating apoptosis associated with PI3K-AKT signaling, further affecting cancer metastasis.

The mechanisms on evasion of anti-tumor immune responses in gastric cancer

The immune system and the tumor have been at each other's throats for so long that the neoplasm has learned to avoid detection and avoid being attacked, which is called immune evasion. Malignant tumors, such as gastric cancer (GC), share the ability to evade the body's immune system as a defining feature. Immune evasion includes alterations to tumor-associated antigens (TAAs), antigen presentation mechanisms (APMs), and the tumor microenvironment (TME). While TAA and APM are simpler in nature, they both involve mutations or epigenetic regulation of genes. The TME is comprised of numerous cell types, cytokines, chemokines and extracellular matrix, any one of which might be altered to have an effect on the surrounding ecosystem. The NF-kB, MAPK, PI3K/AKT, JAK/STAT, Wnt/β-catenin, Notch, Hippo and TGF-β/Smad signaling pathways are all associated with gastric cancer tumor immune evasion. In this review, we will delineate the functions of these pathways in immune evasion.

Babao Dan Alleviates 5-Fluorouracil-Induced Intestinal Damage via Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the protective function of Babao Dan (BBD) on 5-flurouracil (5-FU)-induced intestinal mucositis (IM) and uncover the underlying mechanism.

METHODS

A total of 18 male mice were randomly divided into 3 groups by a random number table, including control, 5-FU and 5-FU combined BBD groups, 6 mice in each group. A single intraperitoneal injection of 5-FU (150 mg/kg) was performed in 5-FU and 5-FU combined BBD groups on day 0. Mice in 5-FU combined BBD group were gavaged with BBD (250 mg/kg) daily from day 1 to 6. Mice in the control group were gavaged with saline solution for 6 days. The body weight and diarrhea index of mice were recorded daily. On the 7th day, the blood from the heart of mice was collected to analyze the proportional changes of immunological cells, and the mice were subsequently euthanized by mild anesthesia with 2% pentobarbital sodium. Colorectal lengths and villus heights were measured. Intestinal-cellular apoptosis and proliferation were evaluated by Tunel assay and immunohistochemical staining of proliferating cell nuclear antigen, respectively. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot were performed to investigate the expressions of components in Wnt/β-catenin pathway (Wnt3, LRP5, β-catenin, c-Myc, LRG5 and CD44).

RESULTS

BBD obviously alleviated 5-FU-induced body weight loss and diarrhea, and reversed the decrease in the number of white blood cells, including monocyte, granulocyte and lymphocyte, and platelet (P<0.01). The shortening of colon caused by 5-FU was also reversed by BBD (P<0.01). Moreover, BBD inhibited apoptosis and promoted proliferation in jejunum tissues so as to reduce the intestinal mucosal damage and improve the integrity of villus and crypts. Mechanically, the expression levels of Wnt/β -catenin mediators such as Wnt3, LRP5, β-catenin were upregulated by BBD, activating the transcription of c-Myc, LRG5 and CD44 (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

BBD attenuates the adverse effects induced by 5-FU via Wnt/β-catenin pathway, suggesting it may act as a potential agent against chemotherapy-induced intestinal mucositis.

Babao Dan inhibits lymphangiogenesis of gastric cancer in vitro and in vivo via lncRNA-ANRIL/VEGF-C/VEGFR-3 signaling axis

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common gastrointestinal malignancies in the world. Growing evidence emphasizes the critical role of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in GC tumorigenesis. The aim of the research was to elucidate the effect and mechanism of Babao Dan (BBD) on lymphangiogenesis of GC in vitro and in vivo via lncRNA-ANRIL/VEGF-C/VEGFR-3 signaling axis. The present study investigated BBD significantly decreased the expression of lncRNA-ANRIL and VEGF-C in GC cells (AGS, BGC823, and MGC80-3) by using real-time quantitative polymerasechain reaction (RT-qPCR) and the secretion and expression of VEGF-C by (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) ELISA and western blot (WB). BBD significantly inhibited the tumor xenograft of GC growth and the expression of lncRNA-ANRIL, VEGF-C, VEGFR-3 and LYVE-1 in vivo. BBD reduced serum VEGF-C level. In vitro, BBD inhibited the tube formation and decreased the cell viability, proliferation and migration of HLECs by using tube formation, MTT, Hoechst and Transwell assays. In addition, WB assay found that BBD decreased the expression levels of VEGF-C, VEGFR-3, matrix metallopeptidase 2 (MMP-2) and matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP-9), and RT-qPCR assay found that the mRNA expression levels of lncRNA-ANRIL, VEGF-C, VEGFR-3, MMP-2, MMP-9, CDK4, Cyclin D1, and Bcl-2 were down-regulated, and the expression of p21 and Bax were increased. Taken together, these results demonstrated that BBD inhibited lymphangiogenesis of GC in vitro and in vivo via the lncRNA-ANRIL/VEGF-C/VEGFR-3 signaling axis.

Ginsenoside CK, rather than Rb1, possesses potential chemopreventive activities in human gastric cancer via regulating PI3K/AKT/NF-κB signal pathway

Ginsenoside Rb1, a main component of ginseng, is often transformed into ginsenoside CK by intestinal flora to exert various pharmacological activity. However, it remains unclear whether ginsenoside CK is responsible for the anti-gastric cancer effect of ginsenoside Rb1 in vivo. In this study, network pharmacology was applied to predict the key signal pathways of ginsenoside Rb1 and ginsenoside CK when treating gastric cancer. The anti-proliferative effects of ginsenoside Rb1 and ginsenoside CK and the underlying mechanism in gastric cancer cells were explored by MTT, Hoechst3328 staining, ELISA, RT-qPCR and Western blotting. The results showed that PI3K-AKT/NF-κB signal pathway was the common important pathway of ginsenoside Rb1 and CK in the treatment of gastric cancer. The results of MTT assay showed that ginsenoside Rb1 could hardly inhibit the proliferation of HGC-27 cells, whereas ginsenoside CK could inhibit the proliferation of HGC-27 cells. Hoechst3328 staining showed that cells in the ginsenoside CK group were densely stained bright blue and nuclear fragmented, indicating that apoptosis occurred. ELISA results showed that ginsenoside CK could effectively downregulate the levels of cyclin CyclinB1 and CyclinD1, but ginsenoside Rb1 had no significant effect. Also, the results of Western blot and RT-qPCR showed that ginsenoside CK inhibited the expressions of anti-apoptosis-related protein Bcl-2 and apoptosis-related pathway PI3K/AKT/NF-κB, and promoted the expression of pro-apoptosis proteins Bax and Caspase 3, whereas ginsenoside Rb1 exerted no effect. In short, ginsenoside Rb1 had no anti-gastric cancer cell activity in vitro, but ginsenoside CK could effectively inhibit cell proliferation and induce cell apoptosis in HGC-27 cells. The mechanism might relate to the inhibitory effect of ginsenoside CK on the PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway. These results suggest that ginsenoside CK might be the in vivo material basis for the anti-gastric cancer activity of ginsenosides.

Key Targets and Molecular Mechanisms of Active Volatile Components of Rabdosia rubescens in Gastric Cancer Cells

OBJECTIVE

To examine the effect and mechanism of volatile components of Rabdosia rubescens on gastric cancer.

METHODS

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to detect and identify the volatile components of R. rubescens. The network pharmacology method was used to analyze the targets of volatile components of R. rubescens in gastric cancer and to reveal their molecular mechanisms. The effects of volatile components of R. rubescens on gastric cancer cells were verified by biological experiments.

RESULTS

Thirteen volatile components of R. rubescens were selected as pharmacologically active components. The 13 active components had 83 targets in gastric cancer, and a Traditional Chinese Medicine-component-targets gastric cancer network was successfully constructed. Five core targets were obtained: TNF, IL1B, MMP9, PTGS2 and CECL8. The volatile components inhibited the proliferation of gastric cancer cells in a concentration-dependent manner and promoted the apoptosis of gastric cancer cells. The volatile components reduced the levels of TNF, IL1B, MPP9, and PTGS2 in a concentration-dependent manner.

CONCLUSION

Our study demonstrates the effects of volatile components in R. rubescens on gastric cancer and provides preliminary findings on their mechanisms of action.

Regulatory Mechanism and Experimental Verification of Patchouli Alcohol on Gastric Cancer Cell Based on Network Pharmacology

Background

Pogostemon cablin is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that is frequently used to treat various gastrointestinal diseases. Patchouli alcohol (PA), a compound extracted from the Pogostemon cablin, has been shown to have anti-tumor efficacy in human colorectal cancer. However, the mechanism of PA’s anticancer effect on gastric cancer (GC) remains unknown.

Methods

We used the public database to obtain the potential targets of PA and genes related to GC. Bioinformatic analyses, such as the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Gene Ontology (GO), and protein-protein interactions (PPI), were used for analyzing the potential signal pathways and targets. Cell experiments were also conducted to further explain the impact and molecular mechanism of PA on GC, as well as to confirm the findings of network pharmacology.

Results

Using network pharmacological analysis, 161 possible targets were identified for the treatment of GC. Network analysis and functional enrichment analysis show that PA produced a marked effect in the treatment of GC through multi-targets and multi-pathways, especially the MAPK and PI3K/AKT signal pathways. In addition, PA showed the inhibition of GC cell proliferation, migration and invasion in cell experiments. According to our findings, PA could also cause G0/G1 phase arrest and apoptosis in GC cells.

Conclusion

Using network pharmacology, we aim to uncover the possible molecular mechanism of PA on GC treatment in this research. Cell experiments were also conducted to confirm the therapeutic effect of PA on GC.

Babao Dan Reverses Multiple-Drug Resistance in Gastric Cancer Cells via Triggering Apoptosis and Autophagy and Inhibiting PI3K/AKT/mTOR Signaling

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a critical reason for cancer chemotherapy failure. Babaodan (BBD) is a famous traditional Chinese patent medicine reported to have antigastric cancer activity. However, the roles and molecular mechanisms of the reversal of MDR of gastric cancer by BBD have not been well described until now. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to elucidate further the role of BBD in reversing the MDR of gastric cancer cells and its specific regulatory mechanism via in vitro experiments. To verify our results, MTT, Doxorubicin (DOX) staining, Rhodamin123 (Rho123) staining, DAPI staining, Annexin V-FITC, propidium iodide (PI), Cyto-ID, and western blot assays were performed. To determine whether BBD triggers apoptosis and autophagy through the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling, we also applied 3-methyladenine (3-MA), chloroquine (CQ), and 740Y-P (an activator of PI3K). The results showed that BBD reversed the MDR and induced apoptosis and autophagy of SGC7901/DDP cells. Pathway analyses suggested BBD inhibits PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway activity and subsequent apoptosis-autophagy induction. Inhibition of autophagy with 3-MA and chloroquine (CQ) was performed to confirm that BBD promoted autophagy. PI3K agonist, 740Y-P, further verified BBD inhibition of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway activation. In conclusion, BBD may reverse the MDR of gastric cancer cells, induce apoptosis, and promote autophagy via inactivation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.

Diagnostic and therapeutic potencies of miR-18a-5p in mixed-type gastric adenocarcinoma

Mixed-type gastric adenocarcinoma (by Lauren Classification) has poor clinical outcomes with few targeted treatment options. The primary objective of this study was to find the prognostic factors, accurate treatment approaches, and effective postoperative adjuvant therapy strategies for patients with mixed-type gastric adenocarcinoma (GA). A microRNA sequencing data set and the corresponding clinical parameters of patients with gastric cancer were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Differentially expressed microRNAs (DEMs) of diffuse- and intestinal-type GA were, respectively, determined. Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests were subsequently carried out to evaluate the prognostic relevance of each DEM. To study the common factors between diffuse- and intestinal-type GA, a pathway enrichment analysis was performed on the target genes of identified DEMs using the PANTHER database. After data preprocessing, we analyzed a total of 230 samples from 210 patients with GA. Eighty-six DEMs in diffuse-type GA samples and 59 DEMs in intestinal-type GA samples were, respectively, identified (p  2.0). The Kaplan-Meier survival method further screened out six prognosis-related DEMs for diffuse-type GA and seven prognosis-related DEMs for intestinal-type GA (p < 0.05). MiR-18a-5p was found to be the only common prognosis-related DEM between diffuse- and intestinal-type GA. The common signaling pathways further revealed that target genes of miR-18a-5p are involved in mixed-type GA progression. This study suggests that miR-18a-5p acts as a potential target for treatment, and common signal pathways provide a rich basis to seek reliable and effective molecular targets for the diagnosis, clinical treatment, and postoperative adjuvant therapy strategy of mixed-type GA.

Procyanidin B2 induces apoptosis and autophagy in gastric cancer cells by inhibiting Akt/mTOR signaling pathway

Background

Procyanidin B2 (PB2), a unique component of the grape seed and other medicinal plants. PB2 has shown wide anticancer activity in various human cancer cells. However, it remains unclear about the biological effects and associated mechanisms of PB2 on gastric cancer cells.

Methods

Cell proliferation was measured by CCK8 assay, and cellular lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release was measured in the culture medium. Cellular apoptosis was observed via TUNEL staining assay and measured by caspase-3 and -9 activities. Autophagy was observed by LC3 staining. Western blot analysis was performed to verify autophagy-associated proteins (Beclin1 and Atg5) and Akt-mTOR pathway.

Results

PB2 reduced the viability of BGC-823 and SGC-7901 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, PB2 induced increased apoptosis rate of gastric cancer cells and enhanced caspase-3 and -9 activities. Simultaneously, PB2 triggered autophagy in gastric cancer cells, with enhanced LC3 staining and increased expression of Beclin1 and Atg5, while the inhibition of autophagy by 3-MA reversed the PB2-induced suppression on cell viability. In addition, PB2 significantly decreased p-Akt and p-mTOR protein expression of gastric cancer cells.

Conclusion

PB2 exerts anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects and induces autophagy by modulating Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. PB2 may be developed as a potential therapeutic drug for gastric cancer.

GINS2 affects cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion in thyroid cancer via regulating MAPK signaling pathway

Globally, thyroid cancer (TC) is considered to be the commonest endocrine malignancy. GINS complex subunit 2 (GINS2) belongs to the GINS complex family and is associated with cellular migration, invasion and growth. The present study aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms of GINS2 on cell viability, migration and invasion in TC cells. By using MTT, wound healing and Transwell assays, the cell viability, migration and invasion were determined. Apoptosis was examined by immunofluorescence. Western blotting was used to detect protein expression levels. In the present study, biological function analysis demonstrated that GINS2 interference attenuated cell viability, migration and invasion in TC cell lines (K1 and SW579). It was discovered that, compared with the control group, GINS2 silencing induced apoptosis in TC cells. Additionally, GINS2 interference inhibited key proteins in the MAPK signaling pathway, including JNK, ERK and p38. According to these comparative experiments, GINS2 was considered to act a pivotal part in cell viability, migration and invasion of TC by regulating the MAPK signaling pathway and might be a potential therapeutic target for treating TC.

Effect of Babao Dan on angiogenesis of gastric cancer in vitro by regulating VEGFA/VEGFR2 signaling pathway

Background

To further elucidate the anti-angiogenesis effect of Babao Dan (BBD) in vitro, gastric cancer (GC) cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were used to evaluate the regulation role of BBD by vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA)/vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) signaling pathway.

Methods

After induced by VEGFA, GC cells (AGS, MGC80-3 and BGC823) were treated by different concentrations of BBD and then were detected cell viability, migration and VEGFA level. And the anti-angiogenesis effect of BBD was evaluated with HUVECs. To furtherly mimic the tumor microenvironment of angiogenesis, VEGFA as an inducer (10 ng/mL) was used to trigger a cascade of angiogenesis of HUVECs in vitro.

Results

The viability and migration of GC cells with VEGFA-induced or non-induced and VEGFA levels in GC cells were significantly inhibited by BBD with concentration-dependent manner (P<0.01). BBD significantly inhibited the HUVECs viability with concentration-dependent manner (P<0.01), which was consistent with the inhibitory action on augmentation of cell viability induced by VEGFA (P<0.01). BBD exhibited the similar inhibitory trend on cyto behavioral variability such as wound repairing (P<0.05), migration (P<0.01) and tube formation (P<0.01) and activation effect on cell apoptosis rate (P<0.01) with VEGFA-induced or non-induced. Moreover, BBD notably regulated the levels of VEGFA, VEGFR2, matrix metalloprotein 2 (MMP2) and matrix metalloprotein 9 (MMP9) of HUVECs on present or absent of VEGFA with dose-dependent manner.

Conclusions

BBD inhibited GC growth against VEGFA-induced angiogenesis of HUVECs by VEGFA/VEGFR2 signaling pathway in vitro.

BaBao Dan Suppresses Tumor Growth of Pancreatic Cancer Through Modulating Transcriptional Reprogramming of Cancer-Related Genes

Background and Aims

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of refractory malignancies without efficient therapeutics. Babao Dan (BBD) was partially effective to suppress tumor growth of PDAC in clinical practice. However, the molecular mechanisms were unclear.

Methods

We established PDAC mice models and treated them with BBD through intragastric administration. Treatment and control groups were then subjected to high-throughput RNA sequencing. We presented the transcriptional changes upon BBD treatment by using computational analysis comparing BBD treatment and control groups. Functional enrichment analysis was employed to investigate the biological processes or pathways that BBD modulates.

Results

BBD treatment showed strong suppression on tumor growth of PDAC, even stronger than Gemcitabine. Through differential analysis comparing BBD treatment and control groups, we identified 638 up-regulated and 259 down-regulated genes in the BBD treatment group. BBD was found to activate tumor suppressor genes, such as MTUS1, PDGFB, SOD3, and UCHL1. Furthermore, we revealed that BBD treatment inhibited cancer-related pathways and elevated activities of metabolism-related processes. The BBD-modulated metabolic genes were further showed to be associated with patient survival in an independent cohort with pancreatic cancer.

Conclusion

BBD repressed the tumor growth of PDAC. BBD treatment modulated expression of cancer-related genes in PDAC. BBD suppressed cancer-related pathways and activated metabolic processes in PDAC. Our study suggests BBD treatment as potential effective therapeutics for patients with pancreatic cancer.

Glutathione Peroxidase 8 as a Prognostic Biomarker of Gastric Cancer: An Analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Data

Background

Glutathione peroxidase 8 (GPX8) has previously been shown to play a role in Keshan disease. In the present study, we explored the prognostic relevance of GPX8 expression in patients with gastric cancer (GC) based upon The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data.

Material/Methods

We assessed the relationship between the expression of GPX8 and clinicopathological findings in GC patients via logistic regression analyses, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. We further assessed the prognostic relevance of specific variables using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses. We lastly conducted gene set enrichment analyses (GSEA).

Results

We detected a significant association between elevated GPX8 levels and more advanced GC tumor stage (OR=5.92 for I vs. IV), as well as more advanced T (OR=22.91 for T1 vs. T4) and N classification (OR=1.82 for N0 vs. N3). We found worse prognosis in patients expressing high levels of GPX8 relative to those with lower expression of this gene (P=0.021). In a univariate analysis, we found high GPX8 expression was strongly correlated with worse OS (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.05; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01–1.08; P=0.018), and multivariate analysis confirmed that GPX8 expression independently predicts GC patient OS (HR: 1.04; CI: 1.00–1.08, P=0.041). GSEA revealed that elevated GPX8 expression was associated with enrichment of pathways consistent with MAPK signaling, JAK/STAT signaling, TGF-β signaling, melanoma, and basal cell carcinoma.

Conclusions

The expression of GPX8 may have prognostic relevance, being positively associated with worse OS in GC patients.