Berberine inhibits Wilms’ tumor cell progression through upregulation of Wilms’ tumor gene on the X chromosome

Therapeutic Effects of Berberine against Urological Cancers: Biological Potentials Based on Cellular Mechanisms

BACKGROUND

Urological cancers, encompassing prostate, kidney, and bladder cancers, pose significant global health challenges. Current treatment modalities, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery, individually or in combination, have limitations in efficacy and are associated with notable morbidity and mortality.

METHODS

This review explores alternative therapeutic avenues, emphasizing the exploration of natural compounds, with a specific focus on berberine. Berberine's potential as a treatment for urological cancers is investigated through an extensive examination of cellular and molecular mechanisms.

RESULTS

The comprehensive analysis reveals promising anticancer properties associated with berberine, substantiated by a wealth of experimental studies. The agent's impact on urological cancers is discussed, highlighting notable findings related to its efficacy and safety profile.

CONCLUSIONS

Given the high mortality rates and potential side effects associated with current standard treatments for urological cancers, the exploration of alternative, effective, and safer options is imperative. This review underscores berberine's therapeutic potential, shedding light on its anticancer effects and encouraging further research in the pursuit of enhanced treatment strategies.

Advances of berberine against metabolic syndrome-associated kidney disease: Regarding effect and mechanism

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) is drastically growing worldwide, resulting in MetS-associated kidney disease. According to traditional theories, preventing blood pressure, lipid, glycose, and obesity and improving insulin resistance (IR), a couple of medications are required for MetS. It not only lowers patients' compliance but also elevates adverse reactions. Accordingly, we attempted to seek answers from complementary and alternative medicine. Ultimately, berberine (BBR) was chosen due to its efficacy and safety on MetS through multi-pathways and multi-targets. The effects and mechanisms of BBR on obesity, IR, diabetic nephropathy, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hyperuricemia were elaborated. In addition, the overall properties of BBR and interventions for various kidney diseases were also collected. However, more clinical trials are expected to further identify the beneficial effects of BBR.

Potential Five-MicroRNA Signature Model for the Prediction of Prognosis in Patients with Wilms Tumor

Background

Wilms tumor (WT) is the most common type of pediatric renal malignancy, and is associated with poor prognosis. The aim of the present study was to identify microRNA (miRNA) signatures which might predict prognosis and categorize WTs into high- and low-risk subgroups.

Material/Methods

The miRNA expression profiles of WT patients and normal samples were obtained from the Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatment database. Differentially expressed miRNAs between WT patients and normal samples were identified using the EdgeR package. Subsequently, correlations between differentially expressed miRNAs and the prognosis of overall survival were analyzed. Enrichment analyses for the targeted mRNAs were conducted via the Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integration Discovery.

Results

A total of 154 miRNAs were identified as differentially expressed in WT. Of those, 18 miRNAs were associated with overall survival (P<0.05). A prognostic signature of 5 differentially expressed miRNAs (i.e., has-mir-149, has-mir-7112, has-mir-940, has-mir-1248, and has-mir-490) was constructed to classify the patients into high- and low-risk subgroups. The targeted mRNAs of these prognostic miRNAs were primarily enriched in Gene Ontology terms (i.e., protein autophosphorylation, protein dephosphorylation, and stress-activated MAPK cascade) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes signaling pathways (i.e., MAPK, AMPK, and PI3K-Akt).

Conclusions

The 5-miRNA signature model might be useful in determining the prognosis of WT patients. As a promising prediction tool, this prognosis signature might serve as a potential biomarker for WT patients.

Identifying the role of Wilms tumor 1 associated protein in cancer prediction using integrative genomic analyses

The Wilms tumor suppressor, WT1 was first identified due to its essential role in the normal development of the human genitourinary system. Wilms tumor 1 associated protein (WTAP) was subsequently revealed to interact with WT1 using yeast two-hybrid screening. The present study identified 44 complete WTAP genes in the genomes of vertebrates, including fish, amphibians, birds and mammals. The vertebrate WTAP proteins clustered into the primate, rodent and teleost lineages using phylogenetic tree analysis. From 1,347 available SNPs in the human WTAP gene, 19 were identified to cause missense mutations. WTAP was expressed in bladder, blood, brain, breast, colorectal, esophagus, eye, head and neck, lung, ovarian, prostate, skin and soft tissue cancers. A total of 17 out of 328 microarrays demonstrated an association between WTAP gene expression and cancer prognosis. However, the association between WTAP gene expression and prognosis varied in distinct types of cancer, and even in identical types of cancer from separate microarray databases. By searching the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer database, 65 somatic mutations were identified in the human WTAP gene from the cancer tissue samples. These results suggest that the function of WTAP in tumor formation may be multidimensional. Furthermore, signal transducer and activator of transcription 1, forkhead box protein O1, interferon regulatory factor 1, glucocorticoid receptor and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ transcription factor binding sites were identified in the upstream (promoter) region of the human WTAP gene, suggesting that these transcription factors may be involved in WTAP functions in tumor formation.

Berberine and Coptidis Rhizoma as potential anticancer agents: Recent updates and future perspectives

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The antineoplastic property of Coptidis Rhizoma and berberine was correlated with its traditional use of clearing internal fire, removing damp-heat and counteracting toxic pathogens.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The anti-tumor effect of Coptidis Rhizoma and berberine was extensively studied since our last comprehensive review in 2009. This study aims to summarize the recent updates and give rise to perspectives of Coptidis Rhizoma and berberine as potential novel antineoplastic agents.

METHODS

Quality studies in recent 5 years were retrieved from PubMed, Medline and CNKI with keywords including Coptis, Coptidis Rhizoma, huanglian, berberine, tumor and cancer. Studies were focused on the pharmacological actions of Coptidis Rhizoma and berberine in cancer progression.

RESULTS

It was shown that Coptidis Rhizoma extract and berberine may repress tumor progression by regressing abnormal cell proliferation, arresting cell cycle and inducing cell death. Studies also highlighted the actions of Coptidis Rhizoma extract and berberine in inhibiting tumor cell invasion and angiogenesis, which in turn abolish cancer metastasis. Some studies have also been conducted to reveal the potential effect of Coptidis Rhizoma extract and berberine in regulating tumor stromal microenvironment, as well as in preventing carcinogenesis. Most of the results have been demonstrated with in vivo models, but results of high-quality clinical trials are not yet available. Unspecified cancer type and staging, fluctuated dose information and variants of targets across studies of berberine/ Coptidis Rhizoma impede their clinical use for cancer treatment.

CONCLUSION

Recent advances highlighted by this review may shed light on future direction of studies featuring Coptidis Rhizoma and berberine as novel antineoplastic agents, which should be repeatedly proven in future animal and clinical studies. Although more evidences on its specificity and clinical efficacy are necessary to support its clinical use, Coptidis Rhizoma and berberine are highly expected to be effective, safe and affordable treatments for cancer patients.