ISSN: 1837-9664Journal of Cancer
Global reach, higher impact
J Cancer 2021; 12(11):3325-3334. doi:10.7150/jca.56426 This issue Cite
Research Paper
The Yunnan national medicine Maytenus compound inhibits the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by suppressing the activation of the EGFR-PI3K-AKT signaling pathway
1. Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Yunnan Cancer Center), Kunming 650118, China.
2. The third people's hospital of Kunming (The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Dali University), Kunming 650041, China.
3. Department of Traditional medicine research laboratory, Puer Traditional Ethnomedicine Institute, Puer 665000, China.
4. Department of Pathology, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou 510080, China.
5. Department of Gynecology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Yunnan Cancer Center), Kunming 650118, China.
6. Department of Head and Neck Cancer, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Yunnan Cancer Center), Kunming 650118, China.
7. Department of Pathology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Yunnan Cancer Center), Kunming 650118, China.
8. Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Yunnan Cancer Center), Kunming 650118, China.
9. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Cancer Immunotherapy Research and Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunology Research, Cancer Research Institute, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
10. Technology Transfer Center, Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650500, China.
*Co-first authors with equal contributions to this work.
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the effects of Maytenus compound on the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells in vitro and in vivo and to explore the underlying mechanism.
Methods: The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of Maytenus compound in HepG2 and BEL-7402 cells were determined by the MTS assay. HepG2 and BEL-7402 cells were treated with different concentrations of Maytenus compound. MTS assay, colony formation assay and cell cycle analysis were performed to clarify the inhibitory effect of Maytenus compound on the proliferation of HepG2 and BEL-7402 cells in vitro. After subcutaneous injection of HepG2 cells, nude mice were randomly divided into a vehicle control group and a drug intervention group, which were intragastrically administered ddH2O or Maytenus compound, respectively. The inhibitory effect of Maytenus compound on the proliferation of HepG2 cells in vivo was analyzed using subcutaneous tumor growth curves, tumor weight, the tumor growth inhibition rate and the immunohistochemical detection of BrdU-labeled cells in S phase. The organ toxicity of Maytenus compound was initially evaluated by comparing the weight difference and organ index of the two groups of nude mice. The main proteins in the EGFR-PI3K-AKT signaling pathway were detected by Western blot after Maytenus compound intervention in vivo and in vitro.
Results: Maytenus compound showed favorable antiproliferation activity against HepG2 and BEL-7402 cells with IC50 values of 79.42±11.71 µg/mL and 78.48±8.87 µg/mL, respectively. MTS assay, colony formation assay and cell cycle analysis showed that Maytenus compound at different concentration gradients within the IC50 concentration range significantly suppressed the proliferation of HepG2 and BEL-7402 cells in vitro and inhibited cell cycle progression from G1 to S phase. Additionally, Maytenus compound, at an oral dose of 2.45 g/kg, dramatically inhibited, without obvious organ toxicity, the proliferation of subcutaneous tumors formed by HepG2 cells in nude mice. In addition, the tumor growth inhibition rate for Maytenus compound was 66.94%. Furthermore, Maytenus compound inhibited the proliferation of liver orthotopic transplantation tumors in nude mice. Western blot analysis showed that Maytenus compound significantly downregulated the expression of p-EGFR, p-PI3K, and p-AKT and upregulated the expression of p-FOXO3a, p27, and p21 in vivo and in vitro.
Conclusion: Maytenus compound significantly inhibited the proliferation of HCC cells in vitro and in vivo. The downregulation of the EGFR-PI3K-AKT signaling pathway and subsequent inhibition of cell cycle progression from G1 to S phase is one of the possible mechanisms. Maytenus compound has a high tumor growth inhibition rate and has no obvious organ toxicity, which may make it a potential anti-HCC drug, but the results from this study need to be confirmed by further clinical trials in HCC patients.
Keywords: Maytenus compound, Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), EGFR-PI3K-AKT signaling pathway, Proliferation
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