Evodiamine sensitizes BGC-823 gastric cancer cells to radiotherapy in vitro and in vivo

Evodiamine: A Extremely Potential Drug Development Candidate of Alkaloids from Evodia rutaecarpa

Evodiamine (EVO) is a tryptamine indole alkaloid and the main active ingredient in Evodia rutaecarpa. In recent years, the antitumor, cardioprotective, anti-inflammatory, and anti-Alzheimer's disease effects of EVO have been reported. EVO exerts antitumor effects by inhibiting tumor cell activity and proliferation, blocking the cell cycle, promoting apoptosis and autophagy, and inhibiting the formation of the tumor microvasculature. However, EVO has poor solubility and low bioavailability. Several derivatives with high antitumor activity have been discovered through the structural optimization of EVO, and new drug delivery systems have been developed to improve the solubility and bioavailability of EVO. Current research found that EVO could have toxic effects, such as hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, and cardiac toxicity. This article reviews the pharmacological activity, derivatives, drug delivery systems, toxicity, and pharmacokinetics of EVO and provides research ideas and references for its further in-depth development and clinical applications.

Progress on the effects and underlying mechanisms of evodiamine in digestive system diseases, and its toxicity: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Evodiamine (EVO) is one of the primary components of Evodia rutaecarpa and has been found to have a positive therapeutic effect on various digestive system diseases. However, no systematic review has been conducted on the research progress and mechanisms of EVO in relation to digestive system diseases, and its toxicity.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to provide a reference for future research in this field.

STUDY DESIGN

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the research progress, mechanisms, and toxicity of EVO in the treatment of digestive system diseases.

METHODS

Five electronic databases were utilized to search for relevant experiments. We conducted a comprehensive review and meta-analysis of the pertinent literature following the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA).

RESULTS

EVO's animal experiments in digestive system diseases primarily focus on colorectal cancer, gastric ulcers, liver cancer, liver fibrosis, ulcerative colitis, colitis-associated cancer, and functional gastrointestinal disorders. EVO also has positive effects on pancreatic cancer, radiation enteritis, gastric cancer, tongue squamous cancer, hepatitis B, oral cancer, and esophageal cancer in vivo. EVO's in cellular experiments primarily focus on SGC7901, HT29, HCT-116, and HepG2 cells. EVO also exhibits positive effects on SW480, LoVo, BGC-823, AGS, COLO-205, MKN45, SMMC-7721, Bel-7402, QGY7-701, PANC-1, SW1990, BxPC-3, HSC4, MC3, HONE1, and CNE1 cells in vitro. The potential common pathways include TGF-β, PI3K-AKT, Wnt, ErbB, mTOR, MAPK, HIF-1, NOD-like receptor, NF-κB, VEGF, JAK-STAT, AMPK, Toll-like receptor, EGFR, Ras, TNF, AGE-RAGE, Relaxin, FoxO, IL-17, Hippo, and cAMP. The mechanisms of EVO on ulcerative colitis, gastric cancer, and HCT116 cells are still controversial in vivo. EVO may have a bidirectional regulatory effect on functional gastrointestinal disorders through calcium signaling. The mechanisms of EVO on HCT116, HT29, SW480, AGS, COLO-205, and SW1990 cells are still controversial in vitro. The question of whether EVO has obvious toxicity is controversial.

CONCLUSION

In both cellular and animal experiments, EVO has demonstrated positive impacts on digestive system diseases. Nevertheless, additional in vivo and in vitro research is required to confirm the beneficial effects and mechanisms of EVO on digestive system diseases, as well as its potential toxicity.

Targeting YAP1 to improve the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in liver cancer: mechanism and strategy

Liver cancer is the third leading of tumor death, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are yielding much for sufferers to hope for patients, but only some patients with advanced liver tumor respond. Recent research showed that tumor microenvironment (TME) is critical for the effectiveness of ICIs in advanced liver tumor. Meanwhile, metabolic reprogramming of liver tumor leads to immunosuppression in TME. These suggest that regulating the abnormal metabolism of liver tumor cells and firing up TME to turn "cold tumor" into "hot tumor" are potential strategies to improve the therapeutic effect of ICIs in liver tumor. Previous studies have found that YAP1 is a potential target to improve the efficacy of anti-PD-1 in HCC. Here, we review that YAP1 promotes immunosuppression of TME, mainly due to the overstimulation of cytokines in TME by YAP1. Subsequently, we studied the effects of YAP1 on metabolic reprogramming in liver tumor cells, including glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, lipid metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, and amino acid metabolism. Lastly, we summarized the existing drugs targeting YAP1 in the treatment of liver tumor, including some medicines from natural sources, which have the potential to improve the efficacy of ICIs in the treatment of liver tumor. This review contributed to the application of targeted YAP1 for combined therapy with ICIs in liver tumor patients.

Traditional Chinese medicine Euodiae Fructus: botany, traditional use, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicity and quality control

Euodiae Fructus, referred to as "Wuzhuyu" in Chinese, has been used as local and traditional herbal medicines in many regions, especially in China, Japan and Korea, for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, headache, emesis, aphtha, dermatophytosis, dysentery, etc. Substantial investigations into their chemical and pharmacological properties have been performed. Recently, interest in this plant has been focused on the different structural types of alkaloids like evodiamine, rutaecarpine, dehydroevodiamine and 1-methyl-2-undecyl-4(1H)-quinolone, which exhibit a wide range of pharmacological activities in preclinical models, such as anticancer, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-cardiovascular disease, etc. This review summarizes the up-to-date and comprehensive information concerning the botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology of Euodiae Fructus together with the toxicology and quality control, and discusses the possible direction and scope for future research on this plant.

Evodiamine as an anticancer agent: a comprehensive review on its therapeutic application, pharmacokinetic, toxicity, and metabolism in various cancers

Evodiamine is a major alkaloid component found in the fruit of Evodia rutaecarpa. It shows the anti-proliferative potential against a wide range of cancers by suppressing cell growth, invasion, and metastasis and inducing apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo. Evodiamine shows its anticancer potential by modulating aberrant signaling pathways. Additionally, the review focuses on several therapeutic implications of evodiamine, such as epigenetic modification, cancer stem cells, and epithelial to mesenchymal transition. Moreover, combinatory drug therapeutics along with evodiamine enhances the anticancer efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs in various cancers by overcoming the chemo resistance and radio resistance shown by cancer cells. It has been widely used in preclinical trials in animal models, exhibiting very negligible side effects against normal cells and effective against cancer cells. The pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics-based collaborations of evodiamine are also included. Due to its poor bioavailability, synthetic analogs of evodiamine and its nano capsule have been formulated to enhance its bioavailability and reduce toxicity. In addition, this review summarizes the ongoing research on the mechanisms behind the antitumor potential of evodiamine, which proposes an exciting future for such interests in cancer biology.

Research progress on evodiamine, a bioactive alkaloid of Evodiae fructus: Focus on its anti-cancer activity and bioavailability (Review)

Evodiae fructus (Wu-Zhu-Yu in Chinese) can be isolated from the dried, unripe fruits of Tetradium ruticarpum and is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine that is applied extensively in China, Japan and Korea. Evodiae fructus has been traditionally used to treat headaches, abdominal pain and menorrhalgia. In addition, it is widely used as a dietary supplement to provide carboxylic acids, essential oils and flavonoids. Evodiamine (EVO) is one of the major bioactive components contained within Evodiae fructus and is considered to be a potential candidate anti-cancer agent. EVO has been reported to exert anti-cancer effects by inhibiting cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis, whilst inducing apoptosis in numerous types of cancer cells. However, EVO is susceptible to metabolism and may inhibit the activities of metabolizing enzymes, such as cytochrome P450. Clinical application of EVO in the treatment of cancers may prove difficult due to poor bioavailability and potential toxicity due to metabolism. Currently, novel drug carriers involving the use of solid dispersion techniques, phospholipids and nanocomplexes to deliver EVO to improve its bioavailability and mitigate side effects have been tested. The present review aims to summarize the reported anti-cancer effects of EVO whilst discussing the pharmacokinetic behaviors, characteristics and effective delivery systems of EVO.

The anti-tumor effects of evodiamine on oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) through regulating advanced glycation end products (AGE) / receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) pathway

Evodiamine (EVO) is emerging as a novel anti-tumor drug, which is involved in the inhibition of cell proliferation and apoptosis. High-Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1)/RAGE is involved in invasive behavior of OSCC cells and angiogenesis. In this study, we evaluated the potential of EVO in OSCC in vitro and in vivo. We found that RAGE silencing suppressed HSC-4 cell proliferation and invasion, and tube formation of HUVEC. EVO showed marked inhibitory effects on the malignant behaviors of HSC-4 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Further experiments revealed that the RAGE overexpression was able to markedly block the effects of EVO on cell proliferation and invasion, and tube formation. By analyzing the expression of High-Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1) and RAGE in HSC-4 cells, the result showed that EVO slightly reduced HMBG1 levels and dramatically decreased RAGE levels, while RAGE overexpression did have no marked influences on HMBG1 levels. The anti-tumor effects of EVO were further confirmed in mouse oral squamous cell carcinoma xenograft models. Remarkable anti-tumor effects of EVO were also demonstrated, as presented by reduced tumor size and levels of HMBG1 and RAGE in tumor tissue of mouse oral squamous cell carcinoma xenograft models. The results demonstrated that EVO has a direct binding effect on HMGB1, but it may be involved in degrading the protein. More importantly, it can reduce the activity of RAGE pathway by affecting the binding between HMBG1 and RAGE. To conclude, EVO inhibited proliferation, invasion and angiogenesis of OSCC through affecting the downstream signal transduction system of AGE/RAGE by targeting RAGE.

Evodiamine: A review of its pharmacology, toxicity, pharmacokinetics and preparation researches

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Evodia rutaecarpa, a well-known herb medicine in China, is extensively applied in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The plant has the effects of dispersing cold and relieving pain, arresting vomiting, and helping Yang and stopping diarrhea. Modern research demonstrates that evodiamine, the main component of Evodia rutaecarpa, is the material basis for its efficacy.

AIMS OF THE REVIEW

This paper is primarily addressed to summarize the current studies on evodiamine. The progress in research on the pharmacology, toxicology, pharmacokinetics, preparation researches and clinical application are reviewed. Moreover, outlooks and directions for possible future studies concerning it are also discussed.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The information of this systematic review was conducted with resources of multiple literature databases including PubMed, Google scholar, Web of Science and Wiley Online Library and so on, with employing a combination of keywords including "pharmacology", "toxicology", "pharmacokinetics" and "clinical application", etc. RESULTS: As the main component of Evodia rutaecarpa, evodiamine shows considerable pharmacological activities, such as analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-microbial, heart protection and metabolic disease regulation. However, it is also found that it has significant hepatotoxicity and cardiotoxicity, thereby it should be monitored in clinical. In addition, available data demonstrate that the evodiamine has a needy solubility in aqueous medium. Scientific and reasonable pharmaceutical strategies should be introduced to improve the above defects. Meanwhile, more efforts should be made to develop novel efficient and low toxic derivatives.

CONCLUSIONS

This review summarizes the results from current studies of evodiamine, which is one of the valuable medicinal ingredients from Evodia rutaecarpa. With the assistance of relevant pharmacological investigation, some conventional application and problems in pharmaceutical field have been researched in recent years. In addition, unresolved issues include toxic mechanisms, pharmacokinetics, novel pharmaceutical researches and relationship between residues and intestinal environment, which are still being explored and excavate before achieving integration into clinical practice.

Evodiamine inhibits migration and invasion by Sirt1-mediated post-translational modulations in colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most difficult cancers to cure. An important prognostic factor is metastasis, which precludes curative surgical resection. Recent evidences show that Evodiamine (EVO) exerts an inhibitory effect on cancer cell apoptosis, migration, and invasion. In this study, we investigated the effects of EVO on the metastasis of CRC cells in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, wound-healing and transwell assay showed that migration and invasion of HT-29 and HCT-116 CRC cells were inhibited significantly by EVO. Western blot and RT-PCR showed that EVO reduced the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 in a dose-dependent manner. In EVO-induced cells, the intracellular NAD+/NADH ratio was increased, the level of Sirt1 was increased, and acetyl-NF-κB P65 was decreased. This process was inhibited by nicotinamide, an inhibitor of Sirt1. In vivo, EVO reduced tumor metastasis markedly. These findings provide evidences that EVO suppresses the migration and invasion of CRC cells by inhibiting the acetyl-NF-κB p65 by Sirt1, resulting in suppression of metalloproteinase-9 expression in vitro and in vivo.

Evodiamine Mitigates Cellular Growth and Promotes Apoptosis by Targeting the c-Met Pathway in Prostate Cancer Cells

Evodiamine (EVO) is an indoloquinazoline alkaloid that exerts its various anti-oncogenic actions by blocking phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), c-Met, and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathways, thus leading to apoptosis of tumor cells. We investigated the ability of EVO to affect hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-induced c-Met/Src/STAT3 activation cascades in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). First, we noted that EVO showed cytotoxicity and anti-proliferation activities in PC-3 and DU145 cells. Next, we found that EVO markedly inhibited HGF-induced c-Met/Src/STAT3 phosphorylation and impaired the nuclear translocation of STAT3 protein. Then, we noted that EVO arrested the cell cycle, caused apoptosis, and downregulated the expression of various carcinogenic markers such as B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), B-cell lymphoma-extra large (Bcl-xL), cyclin D1, cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), survivin, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and matrix metallopeptidases 9 (MMP-9). Moreover, it was observed that in cPC-3 and DU145 cells transfected with c-Met small interfering RNA (siRNA), Src/STAT3 activation was also mitigated and led to a decrease in EVO-induced apoptotic cell death. According to our results, EVO can abrogate the activation of the c-Met/Src/STAT3 signaling axis and thus plays a role as a robust suppressor of tumor cell survival, proliferation, and angiogenesis.

MiR-203 acts as a radiosensitizer of gastric cancer cells by directly targeting ZEB1

Objective: Gastric cancer (GC) is a common tumor malignancy with high incidence and poor prognosis. Radiotherapy is one of the main strategies for GC treatment, while development of radioresistance limits the effectiveness. microRNA-203 (miR-203) has been reported to participate in progression of GC, whereas its interaction with radiosensitivity of GC and the related mechanism remain largely unclear. Methods: The expressions of miR-203 and zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) were measured in GC tissues and cells by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction or western blot. Survival fraction, cell viability and apoptosis were measured in GC cells after treatment of radiation by colony formation, 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay or flow cytometry, respectively. Tumor volume and weight were detected in murine xenograft model after radiation treatment. The interaction between miR-203 and ZEB1 was explored by bioinformatics analysis and luciferase activity assay. Results: miR-203 expression was down-regulated and ZEB1 mRNA level was up-regulated in GC. The expression of miR-203 was associated with radiosensitivity of GC cells. Moreover, overexpression of miR-203 decreased survival fraction, cell viability and tumor growth but promoted cell apoptosis in radiation-treated GC cells. However, knockdown of miR-203 played an opposite effect. ZEB1 was validated as a target of miR-203, and it was involved in miR-203-mediated radiosensitivity of GC cells in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: miR-203 promoted radiosensitivity of GC cells by targeting ZEB1, indicating miR-203 as a promising radiosensitizer for GC treatment.

Apoptotic Pathway as the Therapeutic Target for Anticancer Traditional Chinese Medicines

Cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Apoptosis is a process of programmed cell death and it plays a vital role in human development and tissue homeostasis. Mounting evidence indicates that apoptosis is closely related to the survival of cancer and it has emerged as a key target for the discovery and development of novel anticancer drugs. Various studies indicate that targeting the apoptotic signaling pathway by anticancer drugs is an important mechanism in cancer therapy. Therefore, numerous novel anticancer agents have been discovered and developed from traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) by targeting the cellular apoptotic pathway of cancer cells and shown clinically beneficial effects in cancer therapy. This review aims to provide a comprehensive discussion for the role, pharmacology, related biology, and possible mechanism(s) of a number of important anticancer TCMs and their derivatives mainly targeting the cellular apoptotic pathway. It may have important clinical implications in cancer therapy.

LincRNA-p21 enhances the sensitivity of radiotherapy for gastric cancer by targeting the β-catenin signaling pathway

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a large and diverse class of transcribed RNA molecules with a length of more than 200 nucleotides that modulate the gene expression at the posttranscriptional or transcriptional level. LncRNAs played crucial roles in many biological processes, such as cell proliferation, metastasis, and migraton. In this study, we evaluated the role of lincRNA-p21 in the gastric cancer (GC). We demonstrated that the expression level of lincRNA-p21 was downregulated in the GC tissues and cell lines. Moreover, ectopic expression of lincRNA-p21 suppressed the GC cell growth, cell cycle, and migration. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the X-ray increased the expression level of lincRNA-p21 in both the HCG-27 and SGC7901 cells and elevated expression of lincRNA-p21 increased the radiotherapy sensitivity of the GC cell. In addition, we showed that ectopic expression of lincRNA-p21 suppressed the β-catenin and c-myc expression. Overexpression of lincRNA-p21 inhibited the GC cell proliferation and increased the radiosensitivity of GC cells by regulating the β-catenin signaling pathway. These data suggested that lincRNA-p21 acted as a tumor suppressor gene in the development of GC.

Antiproliferative Effects of Alkaloid Evodiamine and Its Derivatives

Alkaloids, a category of natural products with ring structures and nitrogen atoms, include most U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved plant derived anti-cancer agents. Evodiamine is an alkaloid with attractive multitargeting antiproliferative activity. Its high content in the natural source ensures its adequate supply on the market and guarantees further medicinal study. To the best of our knowledge, there is no systematic review about the antiproliferative effects of evodiamine derivatives. Therefore, in this article the review of the antiproliferative activities of evodiamine will be updated. More importantly, the antiproliferative activities of structurally modified new analogues of evodiamine will be summarized for the first time.

Anticancer Activity of Natural and Synthetic Capsaicin Analogs

The nutritional compound capsaicin is the major spicy ingredient of chili peppers. Although traditionally associated with analgesic activity, recent studies have shown that capsaicin has profound antineoplastic effects in several types of human cancers. However, the applications of capsaicin as a clinically viable drug are limited by its unpleasant side effects, such as gastric irritation, stomach cramps, and burning sensation. This has led to extensive research focused on the identification and rational design of second-generation capsaicin analogs, which possess greater bioactivity than capsaicin. A majority of these natural capsaicinoids and synthetic capsaicin analogs have been studied for their pain-relieving activity. Only a few of these capsaicin analogs have been investigated for their anticancer activity in cell culture and animal models. The present review summarizes the current knowledge of the growth-inhibitory activity of natural capsaicinoids and synthetic capsaicin analogs. Future studies that examine the anticancer activity of a greater number of capsaicin analogs represent novel strategies in the treatment of human cancers.

Cytological Assessments and Transcriptome Profiling Demonstrate that Evodiamine Inhibits Growth and Induces Apoptosis in a Renal Carcinoma Cell Line

Chinese medicines are an important source of secondary metabolites with excellent antitumour activity. Evodia rutaecarpa, from the family Rutaceae, exhibits antitumour activity. Evodiamine (EVO), which was isolated from the fruit of E. rutaecarpa, exhibits robust antitumour activity. However, the antitumour mechanism of EVO remains unclear. In this study, we assessed the growth-inhibiting effect of EVO on two renal carcinoma cell lines. We found that EVO could change the morphology and decrease the viability and proliferation of cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner in vitro. In addition, transcriptome analysis indicated that EVO can modulate the transcriptome of Caki-1 cells. In total, 7,243 differentially expressed genes were found, among which 3,347 downregulated genes and 3,896 upregulated genes were mainly involved in cell migration, apoptosis, cell cycle, and DNA replication. Furthermore, we demonstrated that EVO can cause apoptosis, arrest cells in the G2/M phase, and regulate the expression of apoptosis- and cell cycle-related genes in Caki-1 cells. Our study reveals the anticancer effects of EVO using cellular and molecular data, and indicates the potential uses of this compound as a resource to characterize the antitumour mechanisms of E. rutaecarpa.

Evodiamine Exerts an Anti-Hepatocellular Carcinoma Activity through a WWOX-Dependent Pathway

Evodiamine is one of the main components isolated from Evodia rutaecarpa, and it has been reported to exert inhibitory effects on cancers by anti-proliferative and apoptosis-inducing activities. Although the anti-cancer activity of evodiamine has been identified, the precise mechanisms of this action remain obscure. While previous studies indicated that evodiamine exerts anti-tumor effects through inhibiting β-catenin activity, and WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX) regulates β-catenin accumulation in cytoplasm, the effects of evodiamine on the expression of WWOX are still unknown. In this study, we provide evidence that evodiamine dose- and time-dependently inhibits both Mus musculus and Homo sapiens hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells, as well as Hepa1-6 and HepG2 cell proliferation. We further tested the therapeutic effects of evodiamine in Hepa1-6 hepatoma-bearing mice, and we found that treatment of evodiamine by oral gavage significantly decreased the tumor size of the mice. Moreover, the expressions of WWOX were dose-dependently increased in HCC cell lines as well as in Hepa1-6 hepatoma-bearing mice after the treatment with evodiamine. Knockdown of WWOX in HepG2 and Hepa1-6 cells diminished the effects of evodiamine on the inhibitory effect of cancer cell growth, indicating that evodiamine induced anti-cancer activity through a WWOX-dependent pathway. As such, evodiamine activated WWOX to exert an anti-HCC activity, and might be a potential therapeutic or preventive candidate for HCC treatment.