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Liu S, Li J, Wang W, Zhang Y, Li S, Li T, Jiang J, Zhao F. Prenatal exposure to dibutyl phthalate contributes to erectile dysfunction in offspring male rats by activating the RhoA/ROCK signalling pathway. Toxicology 2024; 508:153925. [PMID: 39151608 DOI: 10.1016/j.tox.2024.153925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2024] [Revised: 08/01/2024] [Accepted: 08/12/2024] [Indexed: 08/19/2024]
Abstract
Prenatal exposure to dibutyl phthalate (DBP) has been reported to cause erectile dysfunction (ED) in adult offspring rats. However, its underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Previously, we found that DBP activates the RhoA/ROCK pathway in the male reproductive system. This study investigated how prenatal exposure to DBP activates the RhoA/ROCK signalling pathway, leading to ED in male rat offspring. Pregnant rats were stratified into DBP-exposed and NC groups, with the exposed group receiving 750 milligrams per kilogram per day (mg/kg/day) of DBP through gavage from days 14-18 of gestation. DBP exposure activated the RhoA/ROCK pathway in the penile corpus cavernosum (CC) of descendants, causing smooth muscle cell contraction, fibrosis, and apoptosis, all of which contribute to ED. In vitro experiments confirmed that DBP induces apoptosis and RhoA/ROCK pathway activation in CC smooth muscle cells. Treatment of DBP-exposed offspring with the ROCK inhibitor Y-27632 for 8 weeks significantly improved smooth muscle cell condition, erectile function, and reduced fibrosis. Thus, prenatal DBP exposure induces ED in offspring through RhoA/ROCK pathway activation, and the ROCK inhibitor Y-27632 shows potential as an effective treatment for DBP-induced ED.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siyu Liu
- Department of Urology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, China; Department of Andrology, Center for Men's Health, Urologic Medical Center, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, China
| | - Jianying Li
- Department of Urology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, China; Department of Andrology, Center for Men's Health, Urologic Medical Center, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, China
| | - Wenhao Wang
- Department of Urology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, China
| | - Yijun Zhang
- Department of Urology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, China; Department of Andrology, Center for Men's Health, Urologic Medical Center, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, China
| | - Shufeng Li
- Department of Urology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, China; Department of Andrology, Center for Men's Health, Urologic Medical Center, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, China
| | - Tiewen Li
- Department of Urology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, China
| | - Juntao Jiang
- Department of Urology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, China.
| | - Fujun Zhao
- Department of Urology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, China; Department of Andrology, Center for Men's Health, Urologic Medical Center, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, China.
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Yan L, Wang D, Liu X, Gu C, Gao S. Actein antagonizes colorectal cancer through blocking PI3K/Akt pathways by downregulating IMPDH2. Anticancer Drugs 2021; 32:864-874. [PMID: 33929996 DOI: 10.1097/cad.0000000000001080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Actein, a triterpene glycoside, isolated from rhizomes of Cimicifuga foetida, was reported to exhibit anticancer effects in vitro and in vivo. However, the effects of actein on colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear. As one of the most popular cancers all over the world, CRC ranked third place in both men and women. Recently, we investigated the potential anti-CRC effects of actein and its mechanisms. The Cell counting kit-8 cell proliferation assays, cell cycle detection, apoptosis detection, reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial membrane potential evaluation, western blot, as well as SW480 xenograft mice model were conducted to illustrate the mechanisms of action on anti-CRC effects of actein. Actein could significantly inhibit the human CRC cell lines SW480 and HT-29 proliferation, whereas less antiproliferation effects were found in normal colorectal cell lines HCoEpiC and FHC. Administration of actein resulted in G1 phase cell cycle arrest in both SW480 and HT-29 cells. Moreover, mitochondria-mediated apoptosis was also observed after treatment with actein in SW480 and HT-29 cell lines. Further investigation of mechanisms of action on actein-mediated anti-CRC proliferation effects indicated that the phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3K)/Akt pathways were involved. Actein significantly downregulated the phosphorylation of key molecules in PI3K/Akt pathways, including mTOR, glycogen synthesis kinase 3β (GSK-3β), as well as FOXO1. In addition, inosine 5'-monophosphate dehydrogenase type II (IMPDH2) was also observed decreasing in both SW480 and HT-29 cell lines after actein treatment, suggesting that actein may inhibit the PI3K/Akt pathways by decreasing IMPDH2. Finally, our SW480 xenograft model verified the anti-CRC effects and the safety of actein in vivo. Our findings suggest actein is worthy of further investigation as a novel drug candidate for the treatment of CRC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liwei Yan
- Anorectal Department, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
| | - Dandan Wang
- College of Health, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
| | - Xiaoming Liu
- Preventive Medicine Department, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China
| | - Chao Gu
- Anorectal Department, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
| | - Shanyu Gao
- Anorectal Department, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
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Zhao C, Zhang Z, Dai X, Wang J, Liu H, Ma H. Actein Antagonizes Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Proliferation through Activating FoxO1. Pharmacology 2021; 106:551-563. [PMID: 34175854 DOI: 10.1159/000515601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Accepted: 03/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is among the most prevalent head and neck malignancies globally, and it is associated with high mortality rates. Actein is one of the primary active components extractable from the rhizomes of Cimicifuga foetida. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-OSCC effects of actein and evaluate the potential underlying mechanisms. METHODS AND RESULTS CCK-8 cell proliferation experiments demonstrated significant dose- and time-dependent anti-OSCC effects of actein, while actein had weak cytotoxic effects on normal oral cell lines. Flow cytometry for cell cycle evaluation revealed that actein could induce cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase among OSCC cell lines. In our Annexin V/PI double staining apoptosis analysis, actein induced significant apoptosis among OSCC cells, with upregulation of Bax and downregulation of Bcl-2. Our mechanistic study implicated the involvement of the Akt/FoxO1 pathway in the anti-OSCC effects of actein. Akt1 and Akt2 expression significantly decreased in association with the FoxO1 upregulation. Furthermore, Bim and p21 were significantly upregulated, while survivin expression was downregulated. Finally, actein treatment was associated with significant p-Akt downregulation and p-FoxO1 upregulation in OSCC cells, demonstrating the validated roles of Akt/FoxO1 in actein-mediated OSCC cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. FoxO1 knockdown significantly reversed the anti-OSCC effects of actein. Additionally, a xenograft model indicated that actein could inhibit OSCC cell growth in vivo. CONCLUSIONS Our findings demonstrated that actein could be a strong anti-OSCC candidate. Further evaluations of its safety and effectiveness are necessary before it can be considered for clinical use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenguang Zhao
- Department of Emergency and General Dentistry, Tianjin Stomatology Hospital, NanKai University, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Oral and Maxillofacial Function Reconstruction, Tianjin, China
| | - Zhiling Zhang
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Tianjin Stomatology Hospital, NanKai University, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Oral and Maxillofacial Function Reconstruction, Tianjin, China
| | - Xiaohua Dai
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Oral and Maxillofacial Function Reconstruction, Tianjin Stomatological Hospital, The Affiliated Stomatological Hospital of Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Jinhui Wang
- Department of Emergency and General Dentistry, Tianjin Stomatology Hospital, NanKai University, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Oral and Maxillofacial Function Reconstruction, Tianjin, China
| | - Hao Liu
- Department of Emergency and General Dentistry, Tianjin Stomatology Hospital, NanKai University, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Oral and Maxillofacial Function Reconstruction, Tianjin, China
| | - Hongwei Ma
- Department of Emergency and General Dentistry, Tianjin Stomatology Hospital, NanKai University, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Oral and Maxillofacial Function Reconstruction, Tianjin, China
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Yu J, Shi W, Zhao R, Shen W, Li H. FHOD3 promotes carcinogenesis by regulating RhoA/ROCK1/LIMK1 signaling pathway in medulloblastoma. Clin Transl Oncol 2020; 22:2312-2323. [PMID: 32447646 DOI: 10.1007/s12094-020-02389-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2020] [Accepted: 05/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Medulloblastoma (MB) is a malignant brain disease in young children. The overall survival of MB patients is disappointing due to absence of effective therapeutics and this could be attributed to the lack of molecular mechanism underlying MB. FHOD3 was an important gene during cardio-genesis and was reported to promote cell migration in cancer. However, its role in MB is not clear to date. METHODS RT-qPCR and IHC analysis were used to determine expression of FHOD3. Survival curve was drawn by K-M analysis. FHOD3 was knocked down by RNAi technology. The effects of FHOD3 on medulloblastoma cells were determined by CCK-8 assay, colony formation assay, transwell assay and FACs analysis. RESULTS FHOD3 expression increased by 1.5 fold in tumor tissues compared to the control and IHC analysis further confirmed strong expression of FHOD3 in medulloblastoma tissues. Then higher FHOD3 expression was associated with shorter survival time in MB patients (13.0 months versus 43.8 months). In medulloblastoma cells such as Daoy and D283med, FHOD3 also displayed abundant expression. When FHOD3 was knocked down, the ability of cell proliferation and colony formation was reduced over greatly. The capability of cell migration and invasion was also inhibited significantly. However, cell apoptotic rate increased significantly reversely. Mechanistically, the phosphorylation level of RhoA, ROCK1, and LIMK1 was decreased when FHOD3 was knocked down but increased reversely when FHOD3 was over-expressed in Daoy cells. CONCLUSIONS FHOD3 was associated with overall survival time in medulloblastoma patients and was essential to cell proliferation, growth and survival in medulloblastoma and might regulates activation of RhoA/ROCK1/LIMK1 signaling pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Yu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, 201102, China
| | - W Shi
- Department of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, 201102, China
| | - R Zhao
- Department of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, 201102, China
| | - W Shen
- Department of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, 201102, China
| | - H Li
- Department of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, 201102, China.
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Wu XX, Yue GGL, Dong JR, Lam CWK, Wong CK, Qiu MH, Lau CBS. Actein Inhibits Tumor Growth and Metastasis in HER2-Positive Breast Tumor Bearing Mice via Suppressing AKT/mTOR and Ras/Raf/MAPK Signaling Pathways. Front Oncol 2020; 10:854. [PMID: 32547952 PMCID: PMC7269144 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2020.00854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2020] [Accepted: 04/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
HER2-positive breast cancer accounts for 15–20% in breast cancer and 50% of the metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer patients died of central nervous system progression. The present study investigated the effects of actein (a natural cycloartane triterpene) on cells adhesion, migration, proliferation and matrix degradation, and its underlying mechanism in HER2-positive breast cancer cells. The in vivo effect of actein on tumor growth and metastasis in MDA-MB-361 tumor-bearing mice as well as the anti-brain metastasis in tail vein injection mice model were also investigated. Our results showed that actein inhibited HER2-positive breast cancer cells viability, proliferation and migration. Actein also induced MDA-MB-361 cells G1 phase arrest and inhibited the expressions of cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases. For intracellular mechanisms, actein inhibited the expressions of molecules in AKT/mTOR and Ras/Raf/MAPK signaling pathways. Furthermore, actein (15 mg/kg) was shown to exhibit anti-tumor and anti-metastatic activities in MDA-MB-361 breast tumor-bearing mice, and reduced brain metastasis in tail vein injection mice model. All these findings strongly suggested that actein is a potential anti-metastatic agent for HER2-positive breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Xiao Wu
- Department of Chemical Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,Institute of Chinese Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Grace Gar-Lee Yue
- Institute of Chinese Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,State Key Laboratory of Research on Bioactivities and Clinical Applications of Medicinal Plants, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jin-Run Dong
- State Key Laboratory of Phytochemistry and Plant Resources in West China, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Christopher Wai-Kei Lam
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines, Faculty of Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China
| | - Chun-Kwok Wong
- Department of Chemical Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,Institute of Chinese Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,State Key Laboratory of Research on Bioactivities and Clinical Applications of Medicinal Plants, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,Li Dak Sum Yip Yio Chin R & D Centre for Chinese Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Ming-Hua Qiu
- State Key Laboratory of Phytochemistry and Plant Resources in West China, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Clara Bik-San Lau
- Institute of Chinese Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,State Key Laboratory of Research on Bioactivities and Clinical Applications of Medicinal Plants, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,Li Dak Sum Yip Yio Chin R & D Centre for Chinese Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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