Invasive bronchial fibroblasts derived from asthmatic patients activate lung cancer A549 cells in vitro

Scutellaria baicalensis and Their Natural Flavone Compounds as Potential Medicinal Drugs for the Treatment of Nicotine-Induced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer and Asthma

Flavonoids as the largest group of natural phytochemical compounds have received significant attention, as demonstrated by clinical trials, due to their chemotherapeutic and/or pharmacological effects against non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and asthma. Scutellaria baicalensis (S. baicalensis), known as one of the most popular medicinal plants and used in several countries, contains natural active flavone constituents, with the major compounds of the roots being baicalein, baicalin, wogonin, wogonoside and oroxylin A. S. baicalensis and their compounds are proven to have inhibitory effects on NSCLC cells when used at different concentrations. However, the exact mechanisms by which these compounds exert their therapeutic effects against asthma remain unexplored. Indeed, the mechanisms by which S. baicalensis and its flavone compounds exert a protective effect against nicotine-induced NSCLC and asthma are not yet fully understood. Therefore, this review explores the mechanisms involved in the therapeutic potential of flavone-rich extracts from S. baicalensis in nicotine-induced NSCLC and asthma.

Porous Polymeric Microspheres With Controllable Pore Diameters for Tissue Engineered Lung Tumor Model Development

Complex cell cultures are more representative of in vivo conditions than conventionally used monolayer cultures, and are hence being investigated for predictive screening of therapeutic agents. Poly lactide co-glycolide (PLGA) polymer is frequently used in the development of porous substrates for complex cell culture. Substrates or scaffolds with highly interconnected, micrometric pores have been shown to positively impact tissue model formation by enhancing cell attachment and infiltration. We report a novel alginate microsphere (AMS)-based controlled pore formation method for the development of porous, biodegradable PLGA microspheres (PPMS), for tissue engineered lung tumor model development. The AMS porogen, non-porous PLGA microspheres (PLGAMS) and PPMS had spherical morphology (mean diameters: 10.3 ± 4, 79 ± 21.8, and 103 ± 30 μm, respectively). The PPMS had relatively uniform pores and a porosity of 45.5%. Degradation studies show that PPMS effectively maintained their structural integrity with time whereas PLGAMS showed shrunken morphology. The optimized cell seeding density on PPMS was 25 × 103 cells/mg of particles/well. Collagen coating on PPMS significantly enhanced the attachment and proliferation of co-cultures of A549 lung adenocarcinoma and MRC-5 lung fibroblast cells. Preliminary proof-of-concept drug screening studies using mono- and combination anti-cancer therapies demonstrated that the tissue-engineered lung tumor model had a significantly higher resistance to the tested drugs than the monolayer co-cultures. These studies indicate that the PPMS with controllable pore diameters may be a suitable platform for the development of complex tumor cultures for early in vitro drug screening applications.