Bioluminescence Imaging-Based Assessment of the Anti-Triple-Negative Breast Cancer and NF-Kappa B Pathway Inhibition Activity of Britanin

Britanin - a beacon of hope against gastrointestinal tumors?

Britanin is a bioactive sesquiterpene lactone known for its potent anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. It also exhibits significant anti-tumor activity, suppressing tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. The current body of research on Britanin includes thirty papers predominantly related to neoplasms, the majority of which are gastrointestinal tumors that have not been summarized before. To drive academic debate, the present paper reviews the available research on Britanin in gastrointestinal tumors. It also outlines novel research directions using data not directly concerned with the digestive system, but which could be adopted in future gastrointestinal research. Britanin was found to counteract liver, colorectal, pancreatic, and gastric tumors, by regulating proliferation, apoptosis, autophagy, immune response, migration, and angiogenesis. As confirmed in pancreatic, gastric, and liver cancer, its most commonly noted molecular effects include nuclear factor kappa B and B-cell lymphoma 2 downregulation, as well as Bcl-2-associated X protein upregulation. Moreover, it has been found to induce the Akt kinase and Forkhead box O1 axis, activate the AMP-activated protein kinase pathway, elevate interleukin-2 and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ levels, reduce interleukin-10, as well as downregulate matrix metalloproteinase-9, Twist family bHLH transcription factor 1, and cyclooxygenase-2. It also inhibits Myc-HIF1α interaction and programmed death ligand 1 transcription by interrupting the Ras/ RAF/MEK/ERK pathway and mTOR/P70S6K/4EBP1 signaling. Future research should aim to unravel the link between Britanin and acetylcholinesterase, mast cells, osteolysis, and ischemia, as compelling data have been provided by studies outside the gastrointestinal context. Since the cytotoxicity of Britanin on noncancerous cells is significantly lower than that on tumor cells, while still being effective against the latter, further in-depth studies with the use of animal models are merited. The compound exhibits pleiotropic biological activity and offers considerable promise as an anti-cancer agent, which may address the current paucity of treatment options and high mortality rate among patients with gastrointestinal tumors.

Retracted: Britannin mediates apoptosis and glycolysis of T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma cells by AMPK-dependent autophagy

The above article, published online on 19 September 2022 in Wiley Online Library (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jbt.23211), has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editor in Chief, Hari Bhat, and Wiley Periodicals, LLC. The article is being retracted at the authors' request because some of the data underlying this article refer to a different cell line from the one reported in it. As a result, the article's conclusions do not accurately reflect the full data and cannot be considered reliable.

Britanin relieves ferroptosis-mediated myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion damage by upregulating GPX4 through activation of AMPK/GSK3β/Nrf2 signalling

CONTEXT

Ferroptosis was described as an important contributor to the myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion (MIR) injury, and britanin (Bri) was reported to exert antitumor and anti-inflammatory activities.

OBJECTIVE

Our study explores the effect and mechanism of Bri on MIR damage.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The rat model of MIR was established by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into three groups: sham group (n = 6), MIR group (n = 6) and MIR + Bri group (n = 6; 50 mg/kg). Rats were intragastrically pre-treated with Bri or normal saline once daily for 3 days. To further verify the role and mechanism of Bri, H9C2 cells were subjected to hypoxia plus reoxygenation (H/R) to induce the in vitro model of MIR.

RESULTS

Compared with MIR rats, Bri significantly decreased infarct area (22.50% vs. 38.67%), myocardial apoptosis (23.00% vs. 41.5%), creatine phosphokinase (0.57 U/mL vs. 0.76 U/mL), and lactate dehydrogenase levels (3.18 U/mL vs. 5.17 U/mL), concomitant with alleviation of ferroptosis. Mechanistically, Bri treatment induced the activation of the adenosine monophosphate activated protein kinase (AMPK)/glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β)/nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway in vivo. In addition, the AMPK/GSK3β/Nrf2 pathway participated in the regulation of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) expression, and silencing of Nrf2 attenuated the effect of Bri on H/R-induced cell injury.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Bri protected against ferroptosis-mediated MIR damage by upregulating GPX4 through activation of the AMPK/GSK3β/Nrf2 signalling, suggesting that Bri might become a novel therapeutic agent for MIR.

An updated review on the potential antineoplastic actions of oleuropein

Oleuropein is an ester of elenolic acid and hydroxytyrosol (3, 4-dihydroxyphenylethanol). It is a phenolic compound and the most luxuriant in olives. The detailed information related to the anticancer effects of oleuropein was collected from the internet database PubMed/Medline, ResearchGate, Web of Science, Wiley Online Library, and Cnki using appropriate keywords until the end of October 2021. Oleuropein has been shown to have antioxidant, anticancer, antiinflammatory, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, and hepatoprotective effects. Previous studies also revealed that oleuropein could effectively inhibit the malignant progression of esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, and cervical cancer. Recently, the role of oleuropein in inhibiting tumor cell proliferation, invasion, and migration and inducing tumor cell apoptosis has gained extensive attention. In this review, we have summarized the latest research progress related to the antioncogenic mechanisms and the potential role of oleuropein in targeting different human malignancies. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that oleuropein can function as a promising chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agent against cancer, but its more detailed anticancer effects and underlying mechanisms need to be further validated in future preclinical as well as clinical studies.

1β-Hydroxyalantolactone from Inulae Flos alleviated the progression of pulmonary fibrosis via inhibiting JNK/FOXO1/NF-κB pathway

Inulae Flos was widely distributed throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia, and was commonly used as a folk medicine in clinic for treating various respiratory diseases, including cough, asthma, bronchitis, pulmonary fibrosis, and pneumonia. However, the ingredients responsible for the pharmacology effects of I. Flos and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, the effects of 16 known sesquiterpene lactones and flavonoids from I. Flos on TGF-β1-induced fibroblast activation were assessed by phenotypic high-content screening. Among those sixteen compounds, 1β-hydroxy alantolactone (HAL), the main characteristic sesquiterpene lactone from I. Flos, exhibited remarkable inhibitory activity. The further studies showed that HAL significantly inhibited the proliferation and induced the apoptosis of human fibroblast cell lines HELF and MRC-5 in a concentration-dependent manner. It also reduced intracellular ROS production, suppressed the mRNA expressions of E-cad, TGF-β1, Smad3, Col I, α-SMA and TNF-α, and downregulated protein expressions of α-SMA and F-actin. Furthermore, HAL significantly reduced the levels of HA, LN, PC-III and IV-C in serum, TNF-α and IL-6 in BALF, and TGF-β1, HYP and Col I in lung tissues of bleomycin (BLM)-treated rats. HAL significantly downregulated the expressions of p-JNK, FOXO1, p-p65, α-SMA, p-smad3 and Col I but upregulated p-FOXO1, which could be reversed by JNK agonist anisomycin. These results demonstrated that HAL induced the apoptosis of lung fibroblast cells activated by TGF-β1 and improved BLM-induced lung fibrosis in rats via inhibiting JNK/FOXO1/NF-κB pathway.