Retro-dihydrochalcones from the resin of Daemonorops draco and their inhibitory activities against renal fibrosis.

Daedracoflavan A-E (1-5), five new flavonoids were isolated from the resin of Daemonorops draco. Their structures including absolute configurations were established by using spectroscopic and computational methods. All the compounds are new chalcones with the same retro-dihydrochalcone skeleton. Compound 1 features the presence of a cyclohexadienone unit originating from a benzene ring, and the ketone group of C-9 reduced to a hydroxyl group. The bioactivity of all isolated compounds was evaluated in kidney fibrosis and found that compound 2 could dose-dependently inhibit the expression of fibronectin, collagen I, and α-SMA in TGF-ß1-induced rat kidney proximal tubular cells (NRK-52E). Interestingly, the replacement of a proton by a hydroxyl group at C-4' seems to play a crucial role in anti-renal fibrosis activity.

NRP1 contributes to stemness and potentiates radioresistance via WTAP-mediated m6A methylation of Bcl-2 mRNA in breast cancer.

NRP1 is a transmembrane glycoprotein that is highly expressed in a variety of tumors. There is evidence that NRP1 can enhance the stem cell properties of tumor cells, which are thought to be resistant to radiotherapy. This study aims to elucidate the potential mechanism of NRP1 in radiation resistance. We transfected NRP1 siRNA and plasmid in breast cancer cells to detect the expression of cancer stem cell markers by western blot and qRT-PCR. The effect of NRP1 on radiotherapy resistance was assesses by immunofluorescence and flow cytometry. In vivo, we established xenograft tumor model treating with shRNA-NRP1 to assess radiotherapy sensitivity. We found that NRP1 could enhance the stem cell properties and confer radioresistance of breast cancer cells. Mechanistically, we proved that NRP1 reduced IR-induced apoptosis by downregulation of Bcl-2 via methyltransferase WTAP in m6A-depentent way. It is suggested that these molecules may be the therapeutic targets for improving the efficacy of radiotherapy for breast cancer.

METTL3 potentiates progression of cervical cancer by suppressing ER stress via regulating m6A modification of TXNDC5 mRNA.

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant chemical modification on mRNA and plays significant roles in many bioprocesses. However, the functions of m6A on cervical cancer (CC) tumorigenesis remain unclear. Here we found methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3), a core member of the m6A methyltransferase family, was greatly upregulated as an independent prognostic factor in CC. Mechanistically, the transcription factor ETS1 recruited P300 and WDR5 which separately mediated H3K27ac and H3K4me3 histone modification in the promoter of METTL3 and induced METTL3 transcription activation. Furthermore, we identified TXNDC5 as a target of METTL3-mediated m6A modification through MeRIP-seq, and revealed that METTL3-mediated TXNDC5 expression relied on the m6A reader-dependent manner. Functionally, we verified that METTL3 promoted proliferation and metastasis of CC cells by regulating of TXNDC5 expression through in vitro and in vivo experiments. In addition, our study verified the effect of METTL3/TXNDC5 axis on ER stress. Taken together, METTL3 facilitates the malignant progression of CC, suggesting that METTL3 might be a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for CC.

MicroRNA-138-1-3p sensitizes sorafenib to hepatocellular carcinoma by targeting PAK5 mediated ß-catenin/ABCB1 signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND: Sorafenib is a kinase inhibitor that is used as a first-line therapy in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. However, the existence of sorafenib resistance has limited its therapeutic effect. Through RNA sequencing, we demonstrated that miR-138-1-3p was downregulated in sorafenib resistant HCC cell lines. This study aimed to investigate the role of miR-138-1-3p in sorafenib resistance of HCC. METHODS: In this study, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and Western Blot were utilized to detect the levels of PAK5 in sorafenib-resistant HCC cells and parental cells. The biological functions of miR-138-1-3p and PAK5 in sorafenib-resistant cells and their parental cells were explored by cell viability assays and flow cytometric analyses. The mechanisms for the involvement of PAK5 were examined via co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP), immunofluorescence, dual luciferase reporter assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). The effects of miR-138-1-3p and PAK5 on HCC sorafenib resistant characteristics were investigated by a xenotransplantation model. RESULTS: We detected significant down-regulation of miR-138-1-3p and up-regulation of PAK5 in sorafenib-resistance HCC cell lines. Mechanistic studies revealed that miR-138-1-3p reduced the protein expression of PAK5 by directly targeting the 3'-UTR of PAK5 mRNA. In addition, we verified that PAK5 enhanced the phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of ß-catenin that increased the transcriptional activity of a multidrug resistance protein ABCB1. CONCLUSIONS: PAK5 contributed to the sorafenib resistant characteristics of HCC via ß-catenin/ABCB1 signaling pathway. Our findings identified the correlation between miR-138-1-3p and PAK5 and the molecular mechanisms of PAK5-mediated sorafenib resistance in HCC, which provided a potential therapeutic target in advanced HCC patients.

Epidermal growth factor-like domain multiple 6 (EGFL6) promotes the migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells by inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Epidermal growth factor-like domain multiple 6 (EGFL6) is implicated in tumor growth, metastasis and angiogenesis, and its ectopic alteration has been detected in aggressive malignancies. However, the pathophysiologic roles and molecular mechanisms of EGFL6 in gastric cancer (GC) remain to be elucidated. In this study, we investigated EGFL6 expression in GC cell lines and tissues using western blotting and immunohistochemistry. We found that EGFL6 was elevated expression in GC cell lines and tissues. The high expression of EGFL6 significantly was correlated with histological grade, depth of invasion, lymph node involvement, distant metastasis and TNM stage in GC and predicted poorer prognosis, and it could act an independent prognostic factor for GC patients. EGFL6 enhanced the proliferation, migration and invasion of GC cells. In addition, we identified the possible molecular mechanisms of EGFL6-involved epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). EGFL6 regulated EMT process and induced metastasis partly through FAK/PI3K/AKT/mTOR, Notch and MAPK signaling pathways. In conclusion, EGFL6 confers an oncogenic function in GC progression and may be proposed as a potential therapeutic target for GC.

Rhein-8-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside inhibited high glucose-induced apoptosis of human mesangial cells by regulating the lincRNA ANRIL/let-7a/TGF-ß1/Smad signaling pathway.

Diabetic nephropathy is one of most frequent complications of diabetes, and is the major cause of end-stage disease in diabetic patients. The present study investigated the roles and mechanisms of Rhein-8-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside (Rg) protecting human mesangial cells (HMCs) from high glucose (HG)-induced apoptosis. Using a Cell Counting Kit-8 assay the proliferation of HMCs was analyzed, and flow cytometry was applied to detect apoptosis. The apoptosis-associated protein Bcl-2, caspase-3 and members of the transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1)/Smad signaling pathway were analyzed using a western blotting assay. HG significantly induced HMC apoptosis, and Rg markedly attenuated the HG-induced apoptosis. HG decreased the Bcl-2 expression and increased the caspase-3 expression, and Rg treatment recovered the expressions of Bcl-2 and caspase-3 affected by HG. The underlying mechanisms were further analyzed, and it was demonstrated that HG significantly upregulated the long intervening non-coding RNA (lincRNA) ANRIL expression level, downregulated let-7a expression and activated the TGF-ß1/Smad signaling pathway; Rg treatment recovered the expressions of lincRNA ANRIL and let-7a, and inhibited the TGF-ß1/Smad signaling pathway in the condition of HG. In conclusion, the present results suggested that Rg attenuated HG-induced apoptosis of HMCs by regulating the lincRNA ANRIL/let-7a/TGF-ß1/Smad signaling pathway.

Rynchopeterine F, unique heterodimer of phenethanol-phenylacetyl linking with lactic acid from the medicinal insect Blaps rynchopetera.

A new heterodimer, rynchopeterine F (1), a new natural product, rynchopeterine G (2), and eleven known phenolics were isolated from Blap rynchopetera Fairmaire, a kind of medicinal insect utilized by the Yi and Bai Nationality in Yunnan Province of China. Their structures were established on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analyses (1D and 2D NMR, HR-MS) along with calculated electronic circular dichroism method. Rynchopeterine F was a unusual heterodimer of a 3,4-dihudroxy phenylethanol unit fused to a 3,4-dihudroxy phenylacetyl group through two ester bonds with lactic acid, and rynchopeterine G was a 3,4-dihudroxy phenylethanyl monoester succinate. Attributed to the adjacent dihydroxyl grops, compounds 1 and 2 exhibited significant anti-radical activity with an IC50 value of 3.52 and 7.83 µg/mL for DPPH radical-scavenging, similar with that of the positive controls, vitamin C, 6.92 µg/mL and rutin, 8.28 µg/mL.

Three New Polyynes from Codonopsis pilosula and Their Activities on Lipid Metabolism.

Three new polyynes, named choushenpilosulynes A-C (1-3), were isolated from an 85% aqueous EtOH extract of the roots of Codonopsis pilosula cultivated in Xundian County of Yunnan province, China. Their structures, including the absolute configuration of the glucose residue in 1 and 2, were determined by spectroscopic analysis and gas chromatography (GC). In addition, biological evaluation shows that all the compounds can inhibit the expression of the squalene monooxygenase (SQLE) gene in HepG2 cells, suggesting that these compounds may be involved in lipid metabolism.

A conditionally replicating adenovirus expressing IL-24 acts synergistically with temozolomide to enhance apoptosis in melanoma cells in vitro.

Malignant melanoma is characterized by suppressed apoptosis in tumor cells and high levels of invasion. Temozolomide (TMZ) is one of the most effective single chemotherapeutic agents for patients with malignant melanoma, but resistance develops quickly and frequently. Therapeutic cytokines such as interleukin-24 (IL-24) and conditionally replicating adenoviruses have exhibited promising results as complementary therapies. Thus, the present study hypothesized that a conditionally replicating adenovirus expressing IL-24 combined with TMZ may exhibit increased antitumor activity compared with either treatment alone in melanoma A375 and M14 cell lines in vitro. The present study constructed an E1B-55 gene-deleted conditionally replicating adenovirus expressing the IL-24 gene (ZD55-IL-24). IL-24 was expressed at high levels in melanoma cells infected with ZD55-IL-24 in the presence of TMZ. The combination of ZD55-IL-24 + TMZ induced higher protein expression levels of the proapoptotic proteins B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2)-like protein 4 and phosphorylated protein, γ-H2A histone family member X (γ-H2AX), and reduced the levels of the antiapoptotic proteins Bcl-2, myeloid cell leukemia-1and nuclear factor-κB compared with either treatment individually. A dose-dependent increase in the cytopathic effects for the combination of ZD55-IL-24 and TMZ was also observed. The data of the present study suggest that the ZD55-IL-24 + TMZ combination induced increased levels of apoptosis, possibly by triggering DNA damage, in melanoma cells in vitro compared with either treatment alone. These findings suggest that this strategy may be a promising approach for the treatment of patients with malignant melanoma.

Anthraquinone derivatives from Rumex plants and endophytic Aspergillus fumigatus and their effects on diabetic nephropathy.

Two new oxanthrone C-glycosides, patientosides A (14) and B (15), together with three known ones (11-13), were isolated from Rumex patientia. Their structures were identified on the basis of spectroscopic methods. The absolute configuration for 14 and 15 were deduced by analysis of their CD spectra and comparison with those of known similar compounds. Compounds 11-15, and 14 known anthraquinones (1-4, 6-10, 16-20) previously isolated from Rumex nepalensis, Rumex hastatus, and endophytic Aspergillus fumigatus, respectively, as well as a commercially available compound rhein (5) were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on IL-6 and extracellular matrix production in mesangial cells.

Expression of the pluripotency markers Oct3/4, Nanog and Sox2 in human breast cancer cell lines.

Previous studies have demonstrated that pluripotency-associated transcription factors, such as Oct3/4, Nanog and Sox2, play a crucial role in the development and malignant progression of various types of tumors. Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer among females, being a heterogeneous disease, with distinct morphologies, metastatic behavior and therapeutic responses. The expression of Oct3/4, Nanog and Sox2 in 3 human breast cancer cell lines, MCF7, T-47D and MDA-MB-231, was determined. The expression of Oct3/4, Nanog and Sox2 mRNA was determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and protein expression was detected by immunocytohistochemistry. RT-PCR revealed that all three human breast cancer cell lines tested expressed evident Oct3/4, Nanog and Sox-2 mRNA at various levels. Higher levels of Oct3/4 were identified in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells compared with T-47D cells. Higher levels of Nanog were observed in MCF7 and T-47D cells compared with MDA-MB-231 cells and the highest expression of Sox-2 was detected in MCF7 cells. The nuclear localization of Oct3/4, Nanog and Sox-2 was confirmed by immunostaining. Oct3/4, Nanog and Sox2 were expressed in human breast cancer cell lines. Further studies are required to characterize the role of Oct3/4, Nanog and Sox2 in human breast cancer.

[Study on chemical constituents from essential oil of Hypericum patulum].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the chemical constituents from the essential oil of Hypericum patulum, and provide the scientific basis for exploitation. METHODS: The essential oil was extracted by steam distillation. The chemical constituents of the essential oil were analyzed by GC-MS. The relative contents of these constituents were calculated using square peaks to normalization. RESULTS: 72 peaks were separated and 24 constituents were identified, which constituted about 79.50% of the total essential oil. CONCLUSION: The main constituents are alpha-pinene (18.14%), 2,4a,5,6,7,8-hexahydro-3,5,5,9-tetramethyl-,(R)-1H-benzocycloheptene (13.64%), beta-caryophyllene (9.41%), longifolene (6.23%), etc.