A new insight into the apoptotic effect of nitidine chloride targeting Checkpoint kinase 2 in human cervical cancer in vitro

Pharmacological activities of Zanthoxylum L. plants and its exploitation and utilization

The study aims to provide an up-to-date review at the advancements of the investigations on the ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacological effect and exploitation and utilizations of Zanthoxylum L. Besides, the possible tendency and perspective for future research of this plant are discussed, as well. This article uses "Zanthoxylum L." "Zanthorylum bungeanum" as the keywords and collects relevant information on Zanthoxylum L. plants through electronic searches (Elsevier, PubMed, ACS, Web of Science, Science Direct, CNKI, Google Scholar), relevant books, and classic literature about Chinese herb. The plants of this genus are rich in volatile oils, alkaloids, amides, lignans, coumarins and organic acids, and has a wide range of pharmacological activities, including but not limited to anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-tumor, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, antioxidant and anti-infectious. This article reviewed both Chinese and international research progress on the active ingredients and pharmacological activities of Zanthoxylum L. as well as the applications of this genus in the fields of food, medicinal and daily chemicals, and clarified the material basis of its pharmacological activities. Based on traditional usage, phytochemicals, and pharmacological properties, of Zanthoxylum L. species, which indicate that they possess diverse bioactive metabolites with interesting bioactivities. Zanthoxylum L. is a potential medicinal and edible plant with diverse pharmacological effects. Due to its various advantages, it may have vast application potential in the food and medicinal industries and daily chemicals. Nonetheless, the currently available data has several gaps in understanding the herbal utilization of Zanthoxylum L. Thus, further research into their toxicity, mechanisms of actions of the isolated bioactive metabolites, as well as scientific connotations between the traditional medicinal uses and pharmacological properties is required to unravel their efficacy in therapeutic potential for safe clinical application.

Nitidine chloride regulates cell function of bladder cancer in vitro through downregulating Lymphocyte antigen 75

Nitidine chloride (NC) is effective on cancer in many tumors, but its effect on bladder cancer (BC) is unknown. We conducted cell function experiments to verify the antineoplastic effect of NC on BC cell lines (5637, T24, and UM-UC-3) in vitro. Then, mRNAs of NC-treated and NC-untreated BC cells were extracted for mRNA sequencing. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs), expression analysis, and drug molecular docking were conducted to discover the target gene of NC. Finally, functional enrichment was analyzed to explore the underlying mechanisms. NC dramatically inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion, and it induced apoptosis and arrested the S and G2/M phases of BC cell lines. Lymphocyte antigen 75 (LY75) appeared to be the target of NC. LY75 was highly expressed and had the ability to distinguish BC tissue from non-cancerous tissue. Then, drug molecular docking confirmed the targeting relationship between NC and LY75. Gene enrichment analysis showed that the downregulated genes, after being treated with NC, were mainly enriched in pathways relevant to cell pathophysiological processes. NC inhibits BC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, induces apoptosis, and arrests cell cycles by downregulating the expression of LY75. This study provides molecular and theoretical bases for NC treatment of BC.

Zanthoxylum nitidum (Roxb.) DC: Traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological activities and toxicology

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Zanthoxylum nitidum (Roxb.) DC. (Z. nitidum), which is known in China as Liang-Mian-Zhen, is mainly distributed in southern China and is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. It is traditionally used for treating stomach ache, toothache, rheumatic arthralgia, traumatic injury and venomous snake bites. Additional medical applications include the treatment of inflammations, various types of cancer, bacterial and viral infections, gastric and oral ulcers and liver damage.

AIM OF THIS REVIEW

This paper aims to offer up-to-date information on the botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicity of Z. nitidum. This review also discussed the perspectives for possible future research on Z. nitidum.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A comprehensive review was carried out on studies about Z. nitidum conducted in the past 60 years by using different resources, including Flora of China, Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China and academic databases.

RESULTS

At present, more than 150 chemical constituents have been separated and identified from Z. nitidum, most of which include alkaloids. Biological activities, including anti-inflammation, analgesia, haemostasis, anticancer and antibacterial, were determined via in vitro and in vivo studies. The variations in the efficacy of Z. nitidum can be attributed to the biological activities of its natural products, especially alkaloids. Toxicity studies on Z. nitidum are relatively few, thus requiring further study.

CONCLUSIONS

This article generalises the current research achievements related to Z. nitidum, which is an important medicinal material in China. Some traditional uses of Z. nitidum have been assessed by pharmacological studies. Unresolved problems remain, including molecular mechanisms underlying biological activities, pharmacokinetics, toxicology and therapeutic effect, which are still being studied and explored before Z. nitidum can be integrated into clinical medicine.

Nitidine chloride inhibits the appearance of cancer stem-like properties and regulates potential the mitochondrial membrane alterations of colon cancer cells

Background

Nitidine chloride (NC) is a natural alkaloid that can inhibit tumor growth and induce apoptosis in varieties of cancers. However, the effec12/268t of NC on colon cancer (CC) cells has not been extensively studied.

Methods

Conlon cancer SW480 cells was treated with different concentrations of NC (0.25, 0.5, 1, 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 200 µM) in DMEM medium for 24 hours. Western blotting (WB) was used to detect the expression of related proteins, such as Ki67, PCNA, NANOG, SOX2, OCT4, Bcl-2, Bax, Caspase-3, Caspase-9, ERK1/2, p-ERK1/2, AKT, p-AKT, STAT3, p-STAT3, P65 and p-P65. The pellet formation experiment was used to detect the pellet formation of stem cells. The JC-1 experiment was used to detect the change of mitochondrial membrane potential. Kit was performed to detect the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA). In vivo experiments were used to verify the results of in vitro experiments. TUNEL assay was designed to detect the apoptosis in mice tissue. IHC was used to detect expression of Ki67 and OCT4 protein in tissue.

Results

NC significantly inhibited the expression levels of Ki-67 and a proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). NC can reduce the pellet colony and pellet size of tumor stem cells and block the stem cell characteristics of CC cells. The corresponding stem cell marker molecules NANOG, SOX2, and OCT4 were also downregulated. NC treatment induced the mitochondrial membrane potential depolarization of CC cells. The expression of pro-apoptotic proteins such as caspase-3, caspase-9, and Bax were upregulated, while the expression level of apoptotic Bcl-2 was significantly down-regulated. Moreover, NC reduced SOD activity and MDA content in CC cells. In addition, studies on pathway phosphorylation have shown that NC inhibits the expression of p-erk and p-akt proteins. Finally, the results were further confirmed by experiments in nude mice. NC inhibited tumor growth in mice. NC promoted apoptosis in tissues. NC inhibited the expression of Ki67 and OCT4 in tissues. NC inhibited the phosphorylation of pathway proteins ERK1/2 and AKT in tissues.

Conclusions

NC treatment inhibited the proliferation and stemness of CC tissues, promoted the apoptosis of tumor tissues, downregulated the expression of p-ERK and p-AKT in tumor tissues, which suggests that NC may play an important role in regulating ERK and AKT pathways.