Oxypeucedanin and isoimperatorin extracted from Prangos ferulacea (L.) Lindl protect PC12 pheochromocytoma cells from oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by doxorubicin

Background and purpose:

Doxorubicin (DOX) as a chemotherapeutic agent has been widely used in the treatment of various types of cancer. However, DOX exerts a toxic effect on normal tissues such as the brain. Furanocoumarins reduce the risk of cardiovascular and brain diseases because of their antioxidant activities. This study has been designed, for the first time, to evaluate the effect of known furanocoumarins oxypeucedanin and isoimperatorin extracted from Prangos ferulacea (L.) Lindl on oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by DOX toward pheochromocytoma cell line (PC12).

Experimental approach:

NMR and MASS spectrometers were used to characterize the isolated compounds. The protective effects of isolated compounds on DOX-induced cytotoxicity in PC12 cells were examined by MTT assay. PC12 cells were pretreated with oxypeucedanin and isoimperatorin for 2 and 21 h, respectively, subsequently exposure to DOX at IC₅₀ concentration. Then, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), Bax and Bcl2 mRNA expressions, caspase-3 activation, and the generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured after 24 h.

Findings/Results:

Pretreatment with oxypeucedanin and isoimperatorin significantly decreased DOX-induced apoptosis through reduction of caspase-3 activity and ROS generation and an increase in MMP. In addition, our finding showed pretreatment with these compounds leads to regulation of Bcl-2.

Conclusion and implications:

Taken together our observation indicated that oxypeucedanin and isoimperatorin have a protective effect against apoptosis induced by DOX in PC12 cells by inhibition of ROS production.

Study on the mechanism and intervention strategy of sunitinib induced nephrotoxicity

Sunitinib is an oral small molecular tyrosine kinase inhibitor that exhibits potent antiangiogenic and antitumor activity. Unfortunately, sunitinib kidney toxicity limits its clinical use. Renal injury caused by sunitinib treatment can not only lead to the failure of cancer treatment, but also jeopardizes the health and life of patients. Currently, there is no better intervention measure for renal injury caused by sunitinib therapy except reducing the dosage or stopping the medication. In this study, we learned from clinical case report that sunitinib can cause severe renal injury. Subsequently, we compiled the clinical trials data of sunitinib found that sunitinib can cause general renal damage. Based on this finding, we conducted a study on the mechanism of sunitinib-induced renal injury. The results showed that sunitinib can inhibit the survival of HK-2 cells (human tubule epithelial cells) in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The survival inhibition is mainly due to the activation apoptotic signaling pathway by sunitinib in HK-2 cells and induces apoptosis of HK-2 cells. Subsequently, we found that natural compound oxypeucedanin can significantly alleviate the apoptosis of HK-2 cells induced by sunitinib. Through clinical investigation and experimental study of sunitinib, we found that sunitinib can cause extensive renal damage by inducing apoptosis of renal tubular epithelial cells and natural compound oxypeucedanin is a potentially effective intervention for nephrotoxicity of sunitinib. Thus, our research will provide a theoretical basis for the future rational use of sunitinib and the search for appropriate interventions for sunitinib-induced kidney damage.