Evodiamine Exerts Anticancer Effects Against 143B and MG63 Cells Through the Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathway

The active ingredient of Evodia rutaecarpa reduces inflammation in knee osteoarthritis rats through blocking calcium influx and NF-κB pathway

Chronic inflammation significantly contributes to the progression of osteoarthritis (OA), and an anti-inflammatory small molecule derived from medicinal herbs could be a potential drug candidate for OA. Herein, we investigated the function and mechanism of Evodiamine (EAE), the active ingredient from Evodia rutaecarpa, in chondrocytes and macrophages in vitro and in vivo. The cytotoxicity of EAE was determined using an MTT assay. And the anti-inflammatory and anti-extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation effects of EAE were investigated using qRT-PCR, western blot (WB), immunofluorescence (IF). Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES), Fluo-4 AM, IF and AutoDock were used to elucidate the molecular mechanisms and signalling pathways of the reducing-inflammatory properties of EAE on chondrocytes in vitro. Moreover, the effect of EAE on macrophage polarization was detected by IF and flow cytometry (FC). Ultimately, we explored the in vivo therapeutic efficacy of EAE in an anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT)-induced OA model. The finding demonstrated that EAE blocked the phosphorylation of IKBα and Ca2+ influx, thereby curbing inflammation and ECM degradation. Additionally, EAE can prevent the polarization towards the M1 phenotype. Thus, our findings suggest that EAE has great potential as a therapeutic drug for the treatment of OA.

Nanofiber-based delivery of evodiamine impedes malignant properties of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma cells by targeting HDAC4 and restoring TPM1 transcription

The electrospun nanofiber system is correlated with high efficacy of drug delivery. This study aims to investigate the effect of nanofiber-based delivery of evodiamine, an indole alkaloid derived from Rutaceae plants Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss.) Benth, on intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), as well as to explore the molecular mechanisms. An electrospun nanofiber system carrying evodiamine was generated. Compared to evodiamine treatment alone, the nano-evodiamine exhibited more pronounced effects on suppressing proliferation, colony formation, invasiveness, migration, apoptosis resistance, cell cycle progression, and in vivo tumorigenesis of two ICC cell lines (HUCC-T1 and RBE). ICC cells exhibited increased expression of histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) while decreased tropomyosin 1 (TPM1). HDAC4 suppressed TPM1 expression by removing H3K9ac modifications from its promoter. Nano-evodiamine reduced HDAC4 protein levels in ICC cells, thus promoting transcription and expression of TPM1. Either overexpression of HDAC4 or downregulation of TPM1 negated the tumor-suppressive effects of nano-evodiamine. Collectively, this study demonstrates that the electrospun nanofiber system enhances the efficiency of evodiamine. Additionally, evodiamine suppresses the malignant properties of ICC cells. The findings may provide fresh insights into the application of electrospun nanofiber system for drug delivery and the effects of evodiamine on tumor suppression.

Targeting YAP1 to improve the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in liver cancer: mechanism and strategy

Liver cancer is the third leading of tumor death, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are yielding much for sufferers to hope for patients, but only some patients with advanced liver tumor respond. Recent research showed that tumor microenvironment (TME) is critical for the effectiveness of ICIs in advanced liver tumor. Meanwhile, metabolic reprogramming of liver tumor leads to immunosuppression in TME. These suggest that regulating the abnormal metabolism of liver tumor cells and firing up TME to turn "cold tumor" into "hot tumor" are potential strategies to improve the therapeutic effect of ICIs in liver tumor. Previous studies have found that YAP1 is a potential target to improve the efficacy of anti-PD-1 in HCC. Here, we review that YAP1 promotes immunosuppression of TME, mainly due to the overstimulation of cytokines in TME by YAP1. Subsequently, we studied the effects of YAP1 on metabolic reprogramming in liver tumor cells, including glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, lipid metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, and amino acid metabolism. Lastly, we summarized the existing drugs targeting YAP1 in the treatment of liver tumor, including some medicines from natural sources, which have the potential to improve the efficacy of ICIs in the treatment of liver tumor. This review contributed to the application of targeted YAP1 for combined therapy with ICIs in liver tumor patients.

From immune checkpoints to therapies: understanding immune checkpoint regulation and the influence of natural products and traditional medicine on immune checkpoint and immunotherapy in lung cancer

Lung cancer is a disease of global concern, and immunotherapy has brought lung cancer therapy to a new era. Besides promising effects in the clinical use of immune checkpoint inhibitors, immune-related adverse events (irAEs) and low response rates are problems unsolved. Natural products and traditional medicine with an immune-modulating nature have the property to influence immune checkpoint expression and can improve immunotherapy's effect with relatively low toxicity. This review summarizes currently approved immunotherapy and the current mechanisms known to regulate immune checkpoint expression in lung cancer. It lists natural products and traditional medicine capable of influencing immune checkpoints or synergizing with immunotherapy in lung cancer, exploring both their effects and underlying mechanisms. Future research on immune checkpoint modulation and immunotherapy combination applying natural products and traditional medicine will be based on a deeper understanding of their mechanisms regulating immune checkpoints. Continued exploration of natural products and traditional medicine holds the potential to enhance the efficacy and reduce the adverse reactions of immunotherapy.

Pterostilbene-Isothiocyanate Inhibits Proliferation of Human MG-63 Osteosarcoma Cells via Abrogating β-Catenin/TCF-4 Interaction-A Mechanistic Insight

Osteosarcoma, a highly metastasizing bone neoplasm, is a leading cause of death and disability in children and adolescents worldwide. Osteosarcoma is only suboptimally responsive to surgery and radio- and chemotherapy, that too with adverse side effects. Hence, there is a necessary need for safer alternative therapeutic approaches. This study evaluated the anticancer effects of the semi-synthetic compound, pterostilbene-isothiocyanate (PTER-ITC), on human osteosarcoma MG-63 cells through cytotoxicity, wound-healing, and transwell-migration assays. Results showed that PTER-ITC specifically inhibited the survival, proliferation, and migration of osteosarcoma cells. PTER-ITC induced apoptosis in MG-63 cells by disrupting mitochondrial membrane potential, as evident from the outcomes of different cytological staining. The antimetastatic potential of PTER-ITC was evaluated through immunostaining, RT-qPCR, and immunoblotting. In silico (molecular docking and dynamic simulation) and, subsequently, biochemical [co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) and luciferase reporter] assays deciphered the underlying mode-of-action of this compound. PTER-ITC increased E-cadherin and reduced N-cadherin levels, thereby facilitating the reversal of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). It also modulated the expressions of proliferative cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), caspase-3, poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase (PARP-1) and matrix metalloproteinase-2/9 (MMPs-2/9) at transcriptional and translational levels. PTER-ITC interfered with the β-catenin/transcription factor-4 (TCF-4) interaction in silico by occupying the β-catenin binding site on TCF-4, confirmed by their reduced physical interactions (Co-IP assay). This inhibited transcriptional activation of TCF-4 by β-catenin (as shown by luciferase reporter assay). In conclusion, PTER-ITC exhibited potent anticancer effects in vitro against human osteosarcoma cells by abrogating the β-catenin/TCF-4 interaction. Altogether, this study suggests that PTER-ITC may be regarded as a new approach for osteosarcoma treatment.

Folate Functionalized and Evodiamine-Loaded Pluronic Nanomicelles for Augmented Cervical Cancer Cell Killing

Evodiamine (Evo) is a natural, biologically active plant alkaloid with wide range of pharmacological activities. In the present study Evo-loaded folate-conjugated Pluronic F108 nano-micelles (ENM) is synthesized to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of Evo against cervical cancer. ENM are synthesized, physicochemically characterized and in vitro anticancer activity is performed. The study demonstrates that ENM have nanoscale size (50.33 ± 3.09 nm), monodispersity of 0.122 ± 0.072, with high drug encapsulation efficiency (71.30 ± 3.76%) and controlled drug release at the tumor microenvironment. ENM showed dose-dependent and time-dependent cytotoxicity against HeLa human cervical cancer cells. The results of in vitro anticancer studies demonstrated that ENM have significant anticancer effects and greatly induce apoptosis as compared to pure Evo. The cellular uptake study suggests that increased anticancer activity of ENM is due to the improved intracellular delivery of Evo through overexpressed folate receptors. Overall, the designed ENM can be a potential targeted delivery system for hydrophobic anticancer bioactive compound like Evo.

Targeting signaling pathways in osteosarcoma: Mechanisms and clinical studies

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a highly prevalent bone malignancy among adolescents, accounting for 40% of all primary malignant bone tumors. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with limb-preserving surgery has effectively reduced patient disability and mortality, but pulmonary metastases and OS cells' resistance to chemotherapeutic agents are pressing challenges in the clinical management of OS. There has been an urgent need to identify new biomarkers for OS to develop specific targeted therapies. Recently, the continued advancements in genomic analysis have contributed to the identification of clinically significant molecular biomarkers for diagnosing OS, acting as therapeutic targets, and predicting prognosis. Additionally, the contemporary molecular classifications have revealed that the signaling pathways, including Wnt/β-catenin, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, JAK/STAT3, Hippo, Notch, PD-1/PD-L1, MAPK, and NF-κB, have an integral role in OS onset, progression, metastasis, and treatment response. These molecular classifications and biological markers have created new avenues for more accurate OS diagnosis and relevant treatment. We herein present a review of the recent findings for the modulatory role of signaling pathways as possible biological markers and treatment targets for OS. This review also discusses current OS therapeutic approaches, including signaling pathway-based therapies developed over the past decade. Additionally, the review covers the signaling targets involved in the curative effects of traditional Chinese medicines in the context of expression regulation of relevant genes and proteins through the signaling pathways to inhibit OS cell growth. These findings are expected to provide directions for integrating genomic, molecular, and clinical profiles to enhance OS diagnosis and treatment.

An in vivo and in vitro assessment of the anti-breast cancer activity of crude extract and fractions from Prunella vulgaris L

Prunella vulgaris L.(P. vulgaris) is a perennial herb belonging to the Labiate family and widely distributed in China, Japan, Korea and Europe. Medical monographs and previous studies have shown that P. vulgaris has significant anti-breast cancer activity, and its use in breast treatment has a long history. However, systematically reports about the material basis and mechanism of P. vulgaris on anti-breast cancer activity are limited. In the present study, we first screened the best active fraction from the crude extract (PVE) and ethanol eluted fractions of P. vulgaris by using MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, 4T1 cell models in vitro and a 4T1-BALB/c transplanted tumour mouse breast cancer model in vivo. Furthermore, the anti-breast cancer mechanism of the best active fraction was investigated. The results demonstrated that PVE and ethanol fractions exhibited anti-breast cancer activity, especially with the 50% ethanol eluted fraction (PV50), which effectively regulated the 4T1 cell cycle, inhibited tumour cell proliferation, and promoted cancer cell apoptosis. In case of in vivo assays, PV50 inhibited tumour growth and lung metastasis, as well as inducing cell apoptosis by promoting damage of nuclear DNA and increasing expression of cleaved caspase-3. In addition, the chemical compositions of PV50 were analyzed by HPLC and UPLC-MS/MS, which were identified as flavonoids, moderately polar triterpenes, and a small amount of phenolic acid. The PV50 could be applied as natural sources against breast cancer in the pharmaceutical industry. These findings provide a basis for understanding the mechanism of the anti-breast cancer activity of P. vulgaris.

Evodiamine as an anticancer agent: a comprehensive review on its therapeutic application, pharmacokinetic, toxicity, and metabolism in various cancers

Evodiamine is a major alkaloid component found in the fruit of Evodia rutaecarpa. It shows the anti-proliferative potential against a wide range of cancers by suppressing cell growth, invasion, and metastasis and inducing apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo. Evodiamine shows its anticancer potential by modulating aberrant signaling pathways. Additionally, the review focuses on several therapeutic implications of evodiamine, such as epigenetic modification, cancer stem cells, and epithelial to mesenchymal transition. Moreover, combinatory drug therapeutics along with evodiamine enhances the anticancer efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs in various cancers by overcoming the chemo resistance and radio resistance shown by cancer cells. It has been widely used in preclinical trials in animal models, exhibiting very negligible side effects against normal cells and effective against cancer cells. The pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics-based collaborations of evodiamine are also included. Due to its poor bioavailability, synthetic analogs of evodiamine and its nano capsule have been formulated to enhance its bioavailability and reduce toxicity. In addition, this review summarizes the ongoing research on the mechanisms behind the antitumor potential of evodiamine, which proposes an exciting future for such interests in cancer biology.

Traditional Medicinal Plants as a Source of Inspiration for Osteosarcoma Therapy

Osteosarcoma is one of the most common types of bone cancers among paediatric patients. Despite the advances made in surgery, chemo-, and radiotherapy, the mortality rate of metastatic osteosarcoma remains unchangeably high. The standard drug combination used to treat this bone cancer has remained the same for the last 20 years, and it produces many dangerous side effects. Through history, from ancient to modern times, nature has been a remarkable source of chemical diversity, used to alleviate human disease. The application of modern scientific technology to the study of natural products has identified many specific molecules with anti-cancer properties. This review describes the latest discovered anti-cancer compounds extracted from traditional medicinal plants, with a focus on osteosarcoma research, and on their cellular and molecular mechanisms of action. The presented compounds have proven to kill osteosarcoma cells by interfering with different pathways: apoptosis induction, stimulation of autophagy, generation of reactive oxygen species, etc. This wide variety of cellular targets confer natural products the potential to be used as chemotherapeutic drugs, and also the ability to act as sensitizers in drug combination treatments. The major hindrance for these molecules is low bioavailability. A problem that may be solved by chemical modification or nano-encapsulation.

Research Advances in Antitumor Mechanism of Evodiamine

Evodiamine is a natural alkaloid extracted from Fructus Evodia. This bioactive alkaloid has been reported to have a wide range of biological activities, including anti-injury, antiobesity, vasodilator, and anti-inflammatory effects. In recent years, it has been found that evodiamine has tumor-suppressive effects on a variety of tumors. There is growing evidence that evodiamine can inhibit the rapid proliferation of tumor cells, induce cell cycle arrest at a certain phase, increase the incidence of apoptosis, promote autophagy, inhibit microangiogenesis and migration, and regulate immunotherapy. Evodiamine can inhibit Wnt/β-catenin, mTOR, NF-κB, PI3K/AKT, JAK-STAT, and other signaling pathways in various cancer cells, and it can significantly downregulate the expression of many tumor markers, such as VEGF and COX-2. These facts partially explain the antitumor mechanism of evodiamine. In this article, the antitumor mechanism of evodiamine was reviewed to provide the basis for its clinical application and therapeutic development in the future.

The Synthesis, Structural Modification and Mode of Anticancer Action of Evodiamine: a review

BACKGROUND

Finding novel antitumor reagents from naturally occurring alkaloids is a widely accepted strategy. Evodiamine, a tryptamine indole alkaloid isolated from Evodia rutaecarpa, has a wide range of biological activities, such as antitumor, anti-inflammation, and anti-bacteria. Hence, research works on the structural modification of evodiamine will facilitate the discovery of new antitumor drugs.

OBJECTIVE

The recent advances in the synthesis of evodiamine, and studies on the drug design, biological activities, and structure-activity-relationships of its derivatives, published in patents and primary literatures, are reviewed in this paper.

METHODS

The literatures, including patents and follow-up research papers from 2015 to 2020, related to evodiamine is searched in the Scifinder, PubMed, Espacenet, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang databases. The key words are evodiamine, synthesis, modification, anticancer, mechanism.

RESULTS

The synthesis of evodiamine are summarized. Then, structural modifications of evodiamine are described, and the possible modes of actions are discussed.

CONCLUSION

Evodiamine has a 6/5/6/6/6 ring system, and the structural modifications are focused on ring A, D, E, C5, N-13, and N-14. Some compounds show promising anticancer potentials and warrant further study.

Antitumor Effects of Evodiamine in Mice Model Experiments: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background

Evodiamine (EVO), an alkaloid extracted from the traditional Chinese medicine Euodia rutaecarpa, plays an important role in the treatment of cancer. This study was performed to clarify the effects of evodiamine in mice tumor model studies.

Methods

Electronic databases and search engines involved China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database (CNKI), Wanfang Database, Chinese Scientific Journal Database (CSJD-VIP), China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases, which were searched for literature related to the antitumor effects of evodiamine in animal tumor models (all until 1 October 2021). The evodiamine effects on the tumor volume and tumor weight were compared between the treatment and control groups using the standardized mean difference (SMD).

Results

Evodiamine significantly inhibited tumor growth in mice, as was assessed with tumor volume [13 studies, n=267; 138 for EVO and 129 for control; standard mean difference (SMD)= -5.99; 95% (CI): -8.89 to -3.10; I² = 97.69%, p ≤ 0.00], tumor weight [6 studies, n=89; 49 for EVO and 40 for control; standard mean difference (SMD)= -3.51; 95% (CI): -5.13 to -3.90; I² = 83.02%, p ≤ 0.00].

Conclusion

EVO significantly suppresses tumor growth in mice models, which would be beneficial for clinical transformation. However, due to the small number of studies included in this meta-analysis, the experimental design and experimental method limitations should be considered when interpreting the results. Significant clinical and animal studies are still required to evaluate whether EVO can be used in the adjuvant treatment of clinical tumor patients.

Research progress on evodiamine, a bioactive alkaloid of Evodiae fructus: Focus on its anti-cancer activity and bioavailability (Review)

Evodiae fructus (Wu-Zhu-Yu in Chinese) can be isolated from the dried, unripe fruits of Tetradium ruticarpum and is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine that is applied extensively in China, Japan and Korea. Evodiae fructus has been traditionally used to treat headaches, abdominal pain and menorrhalgia. In addition, it is widely used as a dietary supplement to provide carboxylic acids, essential oils and flavonoids. Evodiamine (EVO) is one of the major bioactive components contained within Evodiae fructus and is considered to be a potential candidate anti-cancer agent. EVO has been reported to exert anti-cancer effects by inhibiting cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis, whilst inducing apoptosis in numerous types of cancer cells. However, EVO is susceptible to metabolism and may inhibit the activities of metabolizing enzymes, such as cytochrome P450. Clinical application of EVO in the treatment of cancers may prove difficult due to poor bioavailability and potential toxicity due to metabolism. Currently, novel drug carriers involving the use of solid dispersion techniques, phospholipids and nanocomplexes to deliver EVO to improve its bioavailability and mitigate side effects have been tested. The present review aims to summarize the reported anti-cancer effects of EVO whilst discussing the pharmacokinetic behaviors, characteristics and effective delivery systems of EVO.

Evodiamine suppresses non-small cell lung cancer by elevating CD8+ T cells and downregulating the MUC1-C/PD-L1 axis

Background

Accumulating evidence showed that regulating tumor microenvironment plays a vital role in improving antitumor efficiency. Programmed Death Ligand 1 (PD-L1) is expressed in many cancer cell types, while its binding partner Programmed Death 1 (PD1) is expressed in activated T cells and antigen-presenting cells. Whereas, its dysregulation in the microenvironment is poorly understood. In the present study, we confirmed that evodiamine downregulates MUC1-C, resulting in modulating PD-L1 expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods

Cell viability was measured by MTT assays. Apoptosis, cell cycle and surface PD-L1 expression on NSCLC cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. The expression of MUC1-C and PD-L1 mRNA was measured by real time RT-PCR methods. Protein expression was examined in evodiamine-treated NSCLC cells using immunoblotting or immunofluorescence assays. The effects of evodiamine treatment on NSCLC sensitivity towards T cells were investigated using human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and Jurkat, apoptosis and IL-2 secretion assays. Female H1975 xenograft nude mice were used to assess the effect of evodiamine on tumorigenesis in vivo. Lewis lung carcinoma model was used to investigate the therapeutic effects of combination evodiamine and anti-PD-1 treatment.

Results

We showed that evodiamine significantly inhibited growth, induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at G2 phase of NSCLC cells. Evodiamine suppressed IFN-γ-induced PD-L1 expression in H1975 and H1650. MUC1-C mRNA and protein expression were decreased by evodiamine in NSCLC cells as well. Evodiamine could downregulate the PD-L1 expression and diminish the apoptosis of T cells. It inhibited MUC1-C expression and potentiated CD8⁺ T cell effector function. Meanwhile, evodiamine showed good anti-tumor activity in H1975 tumor xenograft, which reduced tumor size. Evodiamine exhibited anti-tumor activity by elevation of CD8⁺ T cells in vivo in Lewis lung carcinoma model. Combination evodiamine and anti-PD-1 mAb treatment enhanced tumor growth control and survival of mice.

Conclusions

Evodiamine can suppress NSCLC by elevating of CD8⁺ T cells and downregulating of the MUC1-C/PD-L1 axis. Our findings uncover a novel mechanism of action of evodiamine and indicate that evodiamine represents a potential targeted agent suitable to be combined with immunotherapeutic approaches to treat NSCLC cancer patients. MUC1-C overexpression is common in female, non-smoker, patients with advanced-stage adenocarcinoma.

Supplementary Information

Supplementary information accompanies this paper at 10.1186/s13046-020-01741-5.