Correction: Crude Extracts, Flavokawain B and Alpinetin Compounds from the Rhizome of Alpinia mutica Induce Cell Death via UCK2 Enzyme Inhibition and in Turn Reduce 18S rRNA Biosynthesis in HT-29 Cells

Natural products' antiangiogenic roles in gynecological cancer

Gynecological cancers pose a significant threat to women's health. Although the pathogenesis of gynecological cancer remains incompletely understood, angiogenesis is widely acknowledged as a fundamental pathological mechanism driving tumor cell growth, invasion, and metastasis. Targeting angiogenesis through natural products has emerged as a crucial strategy for treating gynecological cancer. In this review, we conducted comprehensive searches in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Science Direct, and CNKI databases from the first publication until May 2023 to identify natural products that target angiogenesis in gynecologic tumors. Our findings revealed 63 natural products with anti-angiogenic activity against gynecological cancer. These results underscore the significance of these natural products in augmenting their anticancer effects by modulating other factors within the tumor microenvironment via their impact on angiogenesis. This article focuses on exploring the potential of natural products in targeting blood vessels within gynecological cancer to provide novel research perspectives for targeted vascular therapy while laying a solid theoretical foundation for new drug development.

Antiangiogenesis Efficacy of Ethanol Extract from Amomum tsaoko in Ovarian Cancer through Inducing ER Stress to Suppress p-STAT3/NF-kB/IL-6 and VEGF Loop

Natural plants are considered as a huge treasure for anticancer. Amomum tsaoko, a plant of Zingiberaceae, is used widely as a food and traditional medicine in East Asia. In previous studies, Amomum tsaoko has antitumor effect on liver cancer cells, but the mechanism is not clear. Here, we demonstrated that ethanol extract from Amomum tsaoko (At-EE) could inhibit ovarian cancer and decrease angiogenesis in vivo. At-EE did not influence vascular endothelial cells directly, but decreased IL-6 and VEGF secreted by ovarian cancer cells to inhibit angiogenesis through inhibition of p-STAT3 and NF-kB activation. In addition, we demonstrated that p-STAT3 and NF-kB could adjust each other and IL-6 and VEGF also mediate p-STAT3 and NF-kB too, which created a loop. In addition, At-EE interrupted p-STAT3/NF-kB/IL-6 and VEGF loop through induced ER stress. These results reveal that p-STAT3/NF-kB/IL-6 and VEGF is a cascade amplification loop in ovarian cancer for angiogenesis, and induced ER stress can interrupt it. Taken together, this work explored the anticancer activities of Amomum tsaoko, which could be a potential therapeutic candidate in the treatment of ovarian cancer.

Uridine-cytidine kinase 2 (UCK2): A potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for lung cancer

Lung cancer has the highest morbidity and mortality among all cancers. Discovery of early diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of lung cancer can greatly facilitate the survival rate and reduce its mortality. In our study, by analyzing Gene Expression Omnibus and Oncomine databases, we found a novel potential oncogene uridine-cytidine kinase 2 (UCK2), which was overexpressed in lung tumor tissues compared to adjacent nontumor tissues or normal lung. Then we confirmed this finding in clinical samples. Specifically, UCK2 was identified as highly expressed in stage IA lung cancer with a high diagnostic accuracy (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve > 0.9). We also found that high UCK2 expression was related to poorer clinicopathological features, such as higher T stage and N stage and higher probability of early recurrence. Furthermore, we found that patients with high UCK2 expression had poorer first progression survival and overall survival than patients with low UCK2 expression. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses showed that UCK2 was an independent risk factor related with worse DFS and OS. By gene set enrichment analysis, tumor-associated biological processes and signaling pathways were enriched in the UCK2 overexpression group, which indicated that UCK2 might play a vital role in lung cancer. Furthermore, in cytology experiments, we found that knockdown of UCK2 could suppress the proliferation and migration of lung cancer cells. In conclusion, our study indicated that UCK2 might be a potential early diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for lung cancer.

Alpinetin inhibits proliferation and migration of ovarian cancer cells via suppression of STAT3 signaling

Natural bioactive components are increasingly being applied in cancer research. Alpinetin is a type of natural flavonoid primarily derived from Alpinia katsumadai Hayata, which exhibits anti‑bacterial and anti‑inflammatory properties. Therefore, it may possess anticancer potential and be employed therapeutically for different diseases. The aim of the present study was to investigate the anticancer effects of alpinetin on the SKOV3 ovarian cancer cell line. The effect of alpinetin treatment on SKOV3 cell proliferation, apoptosis, spheroid and colony formation were measured using Cell Counting kit‑8, cell apoptosis, 3D spheroid and colony formation assays, respectively. Analysis of the cell cycle was performed using flow cytometry. Western blot analysis was used to determine the protein expression levels of B‑cell lymphoma (Bcl)‑2, Bcl‑2‑associated X protein, cleaved caspase‑3, cleaved poly (ADP‑ribose) polymerase (PARP), cyclin D1, cyclin‑dependent kinase (CDK) 4, CDK6, signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3, phosphorylated (p)‑STAT3, c‑myc, survivin, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)‑1, TIMP‑2, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)‑2 and MMP‑9. In addition, a wound healing assay was used to determine cancer cell migration. The results revealed alpinetin suppressed cell viability and induced apoptosis of SKOV3 cells in a dose‑ and time‑dependent manner, and cells were arrested in the G1 phase. Alpinetin treatment upregulated protein expression levels of Bax, cleaved caspase‑3 and PARP, and downregulated protein expression levels of Bcl‑2, cyclin D1, CDK4 and CDK6. Alpinetin also inhibited cell migration, through increased protein expression levels of TIMP‑1 and TIMP‑2, and decreased protein expression levels of MMP‑2 and MMP‑9. Alpinetin also significantly suppressed colony and spheroid formation by SKOV3 cells. In addition, the STAT3 pathway was suppressed as demonstrated by downregulation of p‑STAT3 and reduced expression of downstream factors, including c‑myc and survivin. Overall, these results indicated that alpinetin may have anticancer effects on human ovarian cancer by inhibiting the STAT3 signaling pathway.