Utilizing network pharmacology and experimental validation to investigate the underlying mechanism of phellodendrine on inflammation.

Background: Phellodendrine, one of the characteristic and important active components of Cortex phellodendri, has been proven to show anti-inflammatory effects. However, the underlying mechanism of phellodendrine on inflammation remains largely unclear. Aim of the study: In this study, network pharmacology and experimental validation were used to explore the underlying mechanism of phellodendrine on inflammation. Materials and Methods: PubChem and SwissADME database were used to evaluate the drug-likeness and other characteristics of phellodendrine. The targets of phellodendrine for the treatment of inflammation were analyzed with multiple databases. Other extensive analyses including protein-protein interaction, Gene Ontology, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment were accomplished with the STRING database, Cytoscape software, and DAVID database. Moreover, the effect of phellodendrine on anti-inflammation was proven in RAW264.7. Results: The network pharmacology results indicated that phellodendrine had drug potential. Phellodendrine acted directly on 12 targets, including PTGS1, PTGS2, HTR1A, and PIK3CA, and then regulated cAMP, estrogen, TNF, serotonergic synapse, and other signaling pathways to exert anti-inflammatory effects. The experimental results showed that phellodendrine reduced the levels of IL-6 compared with the LPS group in 24 h and changed the mRNA expression of PTGS1, PTGS2, HSP90ab1, AKT1, HTR1A, PI3CA, and F10. Conclusion: Our research preliminarily uncovered the therapeutic mechanisms of phellodendrine on inflammation with multiple targets and pathways. Phellodendrine may be a potential treatment for inflammation-related diseases related to the cAMP and TNF signaling pathways.

Mechanism of saikogenin G against major depressive disorder determined by network pharmacology.

Many classic decoctions of Chinese medicine including Radix Bupleuri are used to treat major depressive disorder (MDD). Saikosaponin D is a representative bioactive ingredient discovered in Radix Bupleuri. The mechanism of saikogenin G (SGG) as a metabolite in MDD remains unclear to date. This study aims to elucidate the mechanism of SGG in treating MDD with network pharmacology. We evaluated the drug likeness of SGG with SwissADME web tool and predicted its targets using the SwissTargetPrediction and PharmMapper. MDD-related targets were identified from the following databases: DisGeNET, DrugBank, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, and GeneCards. The common targets of SGG and MDD were imported to the STRING11.0 database, and then a protein-protein interaction network was constructed. Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment were analyzed with DAVID 6.8 database. The molecular weight of SGG was 472.7 g/mol, the topological polar surface area was 69.92 A2 <140 A2, the octanol/water partition coefficient (Consensus LogP0/W) was 4.80, the rotatable bond was 1, the hydrogen bond donors was 3, and the hydrogen bond acceptors was 4. A total of 322 targets of SGG were obtained and there were 1724 MDD-related targets. A total of 78 overlapping genes were selected as targets of MDD treatment including albumin, insulin-like growth factor I, mitogen-activated protein kinase 1, proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase Src, and epidermal growth factor receptor. Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis suggested that proteoglycans in cancer, pathways in cancer, prostate cancer, hypoxia-inducible factor-1, central carbon metabolism in cancer, estrogen, PI3K-Akt, ErbB, Rap1, and prolactin signaling pathways played an important role(P < .0001). This study showed that SGG exhibits good drug-like properties and elucidated the potential mechanisms of SGG in treating MDD with regulating inflammation, energy metabolism, monoamine neurotransmitters, neuroplasticity, phosphocreatine-creatine kinase circuits, and so on.

Knockdown of EMMPRIN (OX47) in MRMT-1 Carcinoma Cells Inhibits Tumor Growth and Decreases Cancer-Induced Bone Destruction and Pain.

PURPOSE: Bone destruction and pain caused by cancer is one of the most devastating complications of cancer patients with bone metastases, and it seriously affects the quality of patients' life. Extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (EMMPRIN) is a cell adhesion molecule with increased expression in a variety of tumors. This study focused to clarify the specific function of EMMPRIN in bone metastasis of breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adenovirus with shRNA-EMMPRIN was transfected into MRMT-1 rat breast carcinoma cells, and the MRMT-1 cells with different expression levels of EMMPRIN were implanted into the bone marrow cavity of rat tibia. Next, the effect of down-regulation of EMMPRIN was evaluated as follows: bone damage was detected by X-ray radiological and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase staining; the tumor burden was evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin staining; the test of pain-related behaviors was assessed used the bilateral paw withdrawal mechanical threshold; and the levels of secretory factors in tumor conditioned medium were determined by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: We found that down-regulation of EMMPRIN in tumor cells can simultaneously reduce tumor burden, relieve cancer-induced bone destruction and pain. CONCLUSION: EMMPRIN is expected to be a therapeutic target for relieving bone metastasis of breast cancer and alleviating cancer-induced bone destruction and pain. The method of targeting EMMPRIN may be a promising strategy for the treatment of cancer in the future.

Elevated Expression of Programmed Death-1 and Programmed Death Ligand-1 Negatively Regulates Immune Response against Cervical Cancer Cells.

The present study is to measure the expression of programmed death-1 (PD-1) and programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1), as well as its clinical significance in cervical cancer patients. Our results showed that different T cell subsets in patients with cervical cancer had high expression of PD-1, and DCs had high expression of PD-L1. High expression of PD-1 on Treg cells in cervical cancer patients facilitated the production of TGF-ß and IL-10 but inhibited the production of IFN-γ. Cervical cancer elevated the expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 in mRNA level. PD-1 expression in peripheral blood of cervical cancer patients was related with tumor differentiation, lymph node metastasis, and invasiveness. PD-1/PD-L1 pathway inhibited lymphocyte proliferation but enhanced the secretion of IL-10 and TGF-ß in vitro. In summary, our findings demonstrate that elevated levels of PD-1/PD-L1, TGF-ß, and IL-10 in peripheral blood of cervical cancer patients may negatively regulate immune response against cervical cancer cells and contribute to the progression of cervical cancer. Therefore, PD-1/PD-L1 pathway may become an immunotherapy target in the future.

MECP2 promotes the growth of gastric cancer cells by suppressing miR-338-mediated antiproliferative effect.

The methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2), a transcriptional suppressor, is involved in gene regulation by binding to methylated promoters. We found that MECP2 is overexpressed in gastric cancer (GC), and that Mecp2 knockdown affects the growth of GC cells both in vitro and in vivo. MECP2 can directly bind to the methylated-CpG island of miR-338 promoter and suppress the expression of two mature microRNAs, namely, miR-338-3p and miR-338-5p. Furthermore, miR-338-5p can suppress GC cell growth by targeting BMI1 (B lymphoma Mo-MLV insertion region 1 homolog). We additionally found that decreased miR-338-5p expression in GC tissues, relative to normal tissues, was significantly negatively correlated with increased BMI1 expression. Silencing MECP2 can indirectly lead to reduced expression of P-REX2, which has been identified as the miR-338-3p target, as well as BMI1 and increasing expression of P16 or P21 both in vitro and in vivo. Altogether, our results indicate that MECP2 promote the proliferation of GC cells via miR-338 (miR-338-3p and miR-338-5p)-mediated antitumor and gene regulatory effect.

MicroRNA-302b Enhances the Sensitivity of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Lines to 5-FU via Targeting Mcl-1 and DPYD.

MiR-302b is a member of miR-302-367 cluster. The miR-302-367 cluster played important roles in maintaining pluripotency in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and has been proved to be capable of suppressing cell growth in several types of cancer cell lines including Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) Cell lines. However, the role that miR-302b plays in the 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) sensitivity of HCC has not been known. This study showed that miR-302b could enhance the sensitivity to 5-FU in HCC cell lines and verified its two putative targeted genes responsible for its 5-FU sensitivity.

miRNA-99b-3p functions as a potential tumor suppressor by targeting glycogen synthase kinase-3ß in oral squamous cell carcinoma Tca-8113 cells.

Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been associated with carcinogenesis in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). In the present study, we investigated the expression and function of miR-99b-3p in human OSCC. We found that the expression levels of miR-99b-3p decreased in 21 clinical OSCC samples (84%). Furthermore, ectopic expression of miR-99b-3p inhibited OSCC cell proliferation by downregulating glycogen synthase kinase-3ß (GSK3ß), an miR-99b-3p' target gene, at the mRNA and protein levels, both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, the silencing of GSK3ß recapitulated the cellular and molecular effects in a similar manner to the overexpression of miR-99b-3p, which included inhibition of OSCC cell proliferation and suppression of p65 (RelA) and G1 regulators (cyclin D1, CDK4 and CDK6) in vitro. Our data suggest that miR-99b-3p functions as a tumor suppressor in OSCC via GSK3ß downregulation.

MicroRNA-214 suppresses the proliferation of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells by targeting E2F3.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important gene regulators that participate in tumorigenesis. Previous studies have implicated that miR-214 is a tumor suppressor that is capable of inhibiting human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell growth. However, the mechanism by which miR-214 suppresses tumor development remains unknown. In the present study, miR-214 was observed to suppress tumor proliferation by directly targeting E2F transcription factor 3 (E2F3) in HCC cells. Colony formation, cell cycle and proliferation assays were employed to study the tumor suppressor role of miR-214 in cell proliferation. In addition, western blotting and dual-luciferase reporter assays were used to evaluate whether E2F3 was a target of miR-214. The results of these analyses revealed that E2F3 was a novel target of miR-214. Furthermore, enhanced expression of miR-214 or silencing of E2F3 inhibited the proliferation of HCC SMMC-7721 cells. These findings suggest that miR-214 suppresses HCC growth by targeting E2F3, and may provide a novel approach for the treatment of human HCC.

Cloning of rabbit HPRT gene using the recombineering system.

Hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) plays an important role in the metabolic salvage of purines, and been used as an alternative pathway for mutant selection in many studies. To facilitate its application in rabbits, we have cloned the cDNA and genomic DNA of the rabbit HPRT gene using an approach that combines bioinformatics and recombineering methods. The cDNA is comprised of 1449 bp containing a coding sequence for a protein of 218 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence of the rabbit HPRT gene shares 98%, 97%, 98% and 94% identity with human, mouse, pig and cattle HPRT genes, respectively. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that this gene is ubiquitously expressed in tissues of adult rabbit. The rabbit HPRT gene spans approximately 48 kb in length and consists of nine exons. The cloning of the rabbit HPRT gene shows the usefulness of the recombineering system in cloning genes of large size. This system may facilitate the subcloning of DNA from bacterial artificial chromosomes for cloning genes of large size or filling big gaps in genomic sequencing.