Physical exercise suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma progression by alleviating hypoxia and attenuating cancer stemness through the Akt/GSK-3β/β-catenin pathway / 中西医结合学报

OBJECTIVE@#Physical exercise, a common non-drug intervention, is an important strategy in cancer treatment, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the mechanism remains largely unknown. Due to the importance of hypoxia and cancer stemness in the development of HCC, the present study investigated whether the anti-HCC effect of physical exercise is related to its suppression on hypoxia and cancer stemness.@*METHODS@#A physical exercise intervention of swimming (30 min/d, 5 d/week, for 4 weeks) was administered to BALB/c nude mice bearing subcutaneous human HCC tumor. The anti-HCC effect of swimming was assessed in vivo by tumor weight monitoring, hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) detection of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Ki67. The expression of stemness transcription factors, including Nanog homeobox (NANOG), octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT-4), v-Myc avian myelocytomatosis viral oncogene homolog (C-MYC) and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), was detected using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. A hypoxia probe was used to explore the intratumoral hypoxia status. Western blot was used to detect the expression of HIF-1α and proteins related to protein kinase B (Akt)/glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β)/β-catenin signaling pathway. The IHC analysis of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (CD31), and the immunofluorescence co-location of CD31 and desmin were used to analyze tumor blood perfusion. SMMC-7721 cells were treated with nude mice serum. The inhibition effect on cancer stemness in vitro was detected using suspension sphere experiments and the expression of stemness transcription factors. The hypoxia status was inferred by measuring the protein and mRNA levels of HIF-1α. Further, the expression of proteins related to Akt/GSK-3β/β-catenin signaling pathway was detected.@*RESULTS@#Swimming significantly reduced the body weight and tumor weight in nude mice bearing HCC tumor. HE staining and IHC results showed a lower necrotic area ratio as well as fewer PCNA or Ki67 positive cells in mice receiving the swimming intervention. Swimming potently alleviated the intratumoral hypoxia, attenuated the cancer stemness, and inhibited the Akt/GSK-3β/β-catenin signaling pathway. Additionally, the desmin+/CD31+ ratio, rather than the number of CD31+ vessels, was significantly increased in swimming-treated mice. In vitro experiments showed that treating cells with the serum from the swimming intervention mice significantly reduced the formation of SMMC-7721 cell suspension sphere, as well as the mRNA expression level of stemness transcription factors. Consistent with the in vivo results, HIF-1α and Akt/GSK-3β/β-catenin signaling pathway were also inhibited in cells treated with serum from swimming group.@*CONCLUSION@#Swimming alleviated hypoxia and attenuated cancer stemness in HCC, through suppression of the Akt/GSK-3β/β-catenin signaling pathway. The alleviation of intratumoral hypoxia was related to the increase in blood perfusion in the tumor. Please cite this article as: Xiao CL, Zhong ZP, Lü C, Guo BJ, Chen JJ, Zhao T, Yin ZF, Li B. Physical exercise suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma progression by alleviating hypoxia and attenuating cancer stemness through the Akt/GSK-3β/β-catenin pathway. J Integr Med. 2023; 21(2): 184-193.

Jiedu Recipe, a compound Chinese herbal medicine, inhibits cancer stemness in hepatocellular carcinoma via Wnt/β-catenin pathway under hypoxia / 中西医结合学报

OBJECTIVE@#Jiedu Recipe (JR), a Chinese herbal remedy, has been shown to prolong overall survival time and decrease recurrence and metastasis rates in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This work investigated the mechanism of JR in HCC treatment.@*METHODS@#The chemical constituents of JR were detected using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The potential anti-HCC mechanism of JR was screened using network pharmacology and messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) microarray chip assay, followed by experimental validation in human HCC cells (SMMC-7721 and Huh7) in vitro and a nude mouse subcutaneous transplantation model of HCC in vivo. HCC cell characteristics of proliferation, migration and invasion under hypoxic setting were investigated using thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide, wound healing and Transwell assays, respectively. Image-iT™ Hypoxia Reagent was added to reveal hypoxic conditions. Stem cell sphere formation assay was used to detect the stemness. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers like E-cadherin, vimentin and α-smooth muscle actin, and pluripotent transcription factors including nanog homeobox, octamer-binding transcription factor 4, and sex-determining region Y box protein 2 were analyzed using Western blotting and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Western blot was performed to ascertain the anti-HCC effect of JR under hypoxia involving the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.@*RESULTS@#According to network pharmacology and mRNA microarray chip analysis, JR may potentially act on hypoxia and inhibit the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that JR significantly decreased hypoxia, and suppressed HCC cell features of proliferation, migration and invasion; furthermore, the hypoxia-induced increases in EMT and stemness marker expression in HCC cells were inhibited by JR. Results based on the co-administration of JR and an agonist (LiCl) or inhibitor (IWR-1-endo) verified that JR suppressed HCC cancer stem-like properties under hypoxia by blocking the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.@*CONCLUSION@#JR exerts potent anti-HCC effects by inhibiting cancer stemness via abating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway under hypoxic conditions. Please cite this article as: Guo BJ, Ruan Y, Wang YJ, Xiao CL, Zhong ZP, Cheng BB, Du J, Li B, Gu W, Yin ZF. Jiedu Recipe, a compound Chinese herbal medicine, inhibits cancer stemness in hepatocellular carcinoma via Wnt/β-catenin pathway under hypoxia. J Integr Med. 2023; 21(5): 474-486.

Comparison of three design methods of hybrid boost plan based on Monaco in radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma / 医疗卫生装备

Objective To analyze the differences of three design methods of hybrid boost(HB)plan based on Monaco in radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Methods Ten patients who underwent intensity-modulated radiotherapy(IMRT)for nasopharyngeal carcinoma in some hospital from January to December 2021 were selected,and Monaco planning system was used to design a simultaneous integrated boost(SIB)IMRT plan SIB-IMRT33f with a prescription fraction of 33f for each patient,keeping the fraction dose unchanged and modifying the prescription fraction to 28f to obtain a SIB-IMRT28f plan.SIB-IMRT5f1,SIB-IMRT5f2 and SIB-IMRT5f3 plans were formed based on the SIB-IMRT28f plan respectively by using the Bias Plan function,adding a prescription with a prescription fraction of 5f or copying the SIB-IMRT33f plan,modifying the prescription fraction to 5f and executing re-optimization after deleting PTV2 optimization function,then Plan_HB1,Plan_HB2 and Plan_HB3 were got by fusing SIB-IMRT28f with SIB-IMRT5e,SIB-IMRT5f2 and SIB-IM RT5f3 plans.Differences in dosimetric and therapeutic parameters were compared among the three HB plans and statistically analyzed using SPSS 20.0 software.Results The dose distributions of the three HB plans all met clinical treatment requirements,and the dose distribution of Plan_HB2 was roughly equivalent to that of Plan_HB3.Plan-HB1 behaved better significantly than Plan_HB2 and Plan_HB3 in D2％of planning gross tumor volume(PGTV)and PGTV1 target area and D2％,Dmean homogeneity index and VPTV2,56 of PTV2 target area(P＜0.05);Plan_HB2 and Plan_HB3 both had Dmean of parotid gland,V55 of cochlea,Dmean of oral cavity,Dmean of larynx and Vbody-PTV outside the target area increased significantly when compared with Plan_HB1 plan(P＜0.05);SIB-IMRT5f2 and SIB-IMRT5G had the number of segments,number of monitor units and delivery time decreased when com-pared with SIB-IMRT5f1(P＜0.05).Conclusion All the three HB plan design methods based on Monaco planning system are feasible in nasopharyngeal cancer radiotherapy.In terms of dosimetric and therapeutic parameters,Plan_HB2 is roughly equivalent to Plan_HB3,with some dosimetric parameters inferior to while some therapeutic parameters superior to those of Plan_HB1.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2023,44(11):50-55]