RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Gansui-Banxia Decoction (GSBXD) is a classic formula of traditional Chinese medical (TCM) sage Zhang Zhongjing to treat stagnation of evil heat and obstruction of qi. At present GSBXD is wildly used to treat cancerous ascites, pleural effusion, peritoneal effusion, pericardial effusion, cranial cavity effusion and several types of cancers, such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and esophageal cancer. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are a kind of immature and heterogeneous cells which can suppress lymphocytes activation by forming a suppressive environment. MDSCs accumulation in peripheral blood and tumors are closely related to the cancer stage and low survival rate of clinical patients. The antitumor immune effect of GSBXD has not received widespread attention. PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of GSBXD on MDSCs accumulation and the mediators including AKT/STAT3/ERK signaling pathways. METHODS: The chemical components of GSBXD were analyzed by UHPLC-MS, and the putative pathways of GSBXD based on Network pharmacology were predicted. Mice were vaccinated with Hepatoma 22 (H22) to establish tumor growth model, which were then administrated with GSBXD ethanol extraction (0.49 mg/kg/day, 1.75 mg/kg/day), sorafenib (60 mg/kg) or saline for 14 days. The cell morphology was evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, and immunity cells were determined through flowcytometry analysis. The levels of cytokines production in blood were evaluated by using ELISA kits. STAT3, ERK and AKT/mTOR signaling transduction associated proteins were determined by Western blot. RESULTS: GSBXD could inhibit tumor growth and splenomegaly in H22 tumor model mice. Importantly, GSBXD reduced MDSCs accumulation and differentiation, and inhibited proliferation of F4/80+ CD11b+ macrophages and apoptosis of T cells and B cells, and increased the percentage of CD 3- NK1.1+ NK cells. To better understand the active component of GSBXD, the ethanol-extraction powdered GSBXD was prepared and analyzed by UHPLC-MS. Combined with these main chemical compounds, we predicted that the anti-tumor effect of GSBXD mainly mediated PI3K-AKT and RAS-MAPK signal pathways based on Network Pharmacology. Western blot analysis of tumor tissues and MDSCs cells demonstrated that phosphorylation of AKT, ERK and STAT3 were significantly reduced, specially the activation of ERK. The levels of IL-1ß and IFN-γ were significantly decreased by ELISA analysis. CONCLUSION: GSBXD exhibited antitumor immune activity by reducing the accumulation of MDSCs in vivo, which is possible via down-regulation of AKT/STAT3/ERK signaling pathway and suppression of IL-1ß and IFN-γ.
Asunto(s)
Carcinoma Hepatocelular , Neoplasias Hepáticas , Células Supresoras de Origen Mieloide , Animales , Carcinoma Hepatocelular/tratamiento farmacológico , Línea Celular Tumoral , Humanos , Ratones , Ratones Endogámicos C57BL , Células Supresoras de Origen Mieloide/metabolismo , Fosfatidilinositol 3-Quinasas/metabolismo , Proteínas Proto-Oncogénicas c-akt/metabolismo , Factor de Transcripción STAT3 , Transducción de SeñalRESUMEN
Neurophysiological, biochemical and anatomical evidence implicates the thalamus as playing a role in epileptic seizures. Until recently, however, longitudinal characterization of in vivo thalamus dynamics had not been reported. In this study, we investigated the metabolism in the thalamus to identify the changes that occur following Coriaria lactone (CL)-induced status epilepticus (SE) and to observe whether the epileptiform discharges could present a difference between the left and right thalami. Five rhesus monkeys underwent whole-brain MRI and single-voxel MRS on a Siemens Trio Tim 3-T MR scanner with a 12-channel head coil. Spectra were processed using LCModel. Scans were performed in five animals before SE and at 1, 7, 21 and 42 days after the onset of SE. Statistical analysis of the data obtained demonstrated no significant difference in the bilateral thalamus of healthy macaques. Our MRS data showed symmetrical distributions of N-acetylaspartate in the right and left thalami after SE (p = 0.003). In addition, this longitudinal study demonstrated elevated glutamate/glutamine (p < 0.05) and reduced myo-inositol (p < 0.05) in the bilateral thalamus 1 day after SE, and all metabolites approached their baseline levels by the fifth scan. Our results demonstrate that metabolic changes occur in the thalamus during CL-induced SE in rhesus monkeys. The various metabolic changes may indicate that the left thalamus is more vulnerable to epileptic strike.