Epoxymicheliolide, a novelguaiane-type sesquiterpene lactone, inhibits NF‑κB/COX‑2 signaling pathways by targeting leucine 281 and leucine 25 in IKKβ in renal cell carcinoma

Micheliolide suppresses the viability, migration and invasion of U251MG cells via the NF-κB signaling pathway

Micheliolide (MCL), a sesquiterpene lactone isolated from Michelia compressa and Michelia champaca, has been used previously to inhibit the NF-κB signaling pathway. MCL has exerted various therapeutic effects in numerous types of disease, such as inflammatory and cancer. However, to the best of our knowledge, its underlying anticancer mechanism remains to be understood. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of MCL on human glioma U251MG cells and to determine the potential anticancer mechanism of action of MCL. From Cell Counting Kit-8, colony formation assay, apoptosis assay and Confocal immunofluorescence imaging analysis, the results revealed that MCL significantly inhibited cell viability in vitro and induced cell apoptosis via activation of the cytochrome c/caspase-dependent apoptotic pathway. In addition, MCL also suppressed cell invasion and metastasis via the wound healing and Transwell invasion assays. Furthermore, western blot and reverse transcription PCR analyses demonstrated that MCL significantly downregulated cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression levels, which may have partially occurred through the inactivation of the NF-κB signaling pathway. In conclusion, the results of the present study indicated that MCL may inhibit glioma carcinoma growth by downregulating the NF-κB/COX-2 signaling pathway, which suggested that MCL may be a novel and alternative antitumor agent for the treatment of human glioma carcinoma.

A Novel Systems Pharmacology Method to Investigate Molecular Mechanisms of Scutellaria barbata D. Don for Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most ordinary type of lung cancer which leads to 1/3 of all cancer deaths. At present, cytotoxic chemotherapy, surgical resection, radiation, and photodynamic therapy are the main strategies for NSCLC treatment. However, NSCLC is relatively resistant to the above therapeutic strategies, resulting in a rather low (20%) 5-year survival rate. Therefore, there is imperative to identify or develop efficient lead compounds for the treatment of NSCLC. Here, we report that the herb Scutellaria barbata D. Don (SBD) can effectively treat NSCLC by anti-inflammatory, promoting apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and angiogenesis. In this work, we analyze the molecular mechanism of SBD for NSCLC treatment by applying the systems pharmacology strategy. This method combines pharmacokinetics analysis with pharmacodynamics evaluation to screen out the active compounds, predict the targets and assess the networks and pathways. Results show that 33 compounds were identified with potential anti-cancer effects. Utilizing these active compounds as probes, we predicted that 145 NSCLC related targets mainly involved four aspects: apoptosis, inflammation, cell cycle, and angiogenesis. And in vitro experiments were managed to evaluate the reliability of some vital active compounds and targets. Overall, a complete overview of the integrated systems pharmacology method provides a precise probe to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of SBD for NSCLC. Moreover, baicalein from SBD effectively inhibited tumor growth in an LLC tumor-bearing mice models, demonstrating the anti-tumor effects of SBD. Our findings further provided experimental evidence for the application in the treatment of NSCLC.