Cistanche tubulosa Phenylethanoid Glycosides Induce Apoptosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells by Mitochondria-Dependent and MAPK Pathways and Enhance Antitumor Effect through Combination with Cisplatin.

Cistanche tubulosa is a type of Chinese herbal medicine and exerts various biological functions. Previous studies have been demonstrated that Cistanche tubulosa phenylethanoid glycosides (CTPG) exhibit antitumor effects on a variety of tumor cells. However, the antitumor effects of CTPG on HepG2 and BEL-7404 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells are still elusive. Our study showed that CTPG significantly inhibited the growth of HepG2 and BEL-7404 cells through the induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, which was associated with the activation of MAPK pathways characterized by the up-regulated phosphorylation of p38, JNK, and ERK1/2 and mitochondria-dependent pathway characterized by the reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential. The release of cytochrome c and the cleavage of caspase-3, -7, -9, and PARP were subsequently increased by CTPG treatment. Moreover, CTPG significantly suppressed the migration of HepG2 through reducing the levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor. Interestingly, CTPG not only enhanced the proliferation of splenocytes but also reduced the apoptosis of splenocytes induced by cisplatin. In H22 tumor mouse model, CTPG combined with cisplatin further inhibited the growth of H22 cells and reduced the side effects of cisplatin. Taken together, CTPG inhibited the growth of HCC through direct antitumor effect and indirect immunoenhancement effect, and improved the antitumor efficacy of cisplatin.

Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch L. crude polysaccharides enhance mouse immunity and immune responses induced by HPV-DNA vaccine / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

Objective To investigate the effects of Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch L. crude polysac-charides (GUCP) as an adjuvant on the immunity of mice and the immune responses induced by human pap-illoma virus ( HPV)-DNA vaccine. Methods ICR mice were injected with different concentrations of GUCP by different ways to detect the influences of GUCP on body weight, organ indexes and the numbers of immune cells in spleen. C57BL/ 6 mice were co-immunized with HPV-DNA vaccine and GUCP to detect the adjuvant efficacy on antigen-specific cellular and humoral immune responses. Results GUCP in all injected groups had no side effect on mouse body weight and liver, heart, lung and kidney indexes, but intraperitone-al injection of GUCP significantly increased spleen and thymus indexes and the numbers of B cells, CD4+ T cells, macrophages and dendritic cells in spleen. Subcutaneous injection of GUCP significantly increased the numbers of B cells and macrophages in spleen and intragastric administration significantly increased the num-bers of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in spleen. Furthermore, GUCP as an adjuvant enhanced the antigen-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses and the levels of IgG, IgG1 and IgG2a induced by HPV-DNA vaccine at a certain degree. Conclusion GUCP enhanced the immunity of mice and the antigen-specific cellular and hu-moral immune responses induced by HPV-DNA vaccine. These results suggested that GUCP might be used as an adjuvant for DNA vaccine.

[Recent research progress in immunomodulatory effects of Chinese herbal medicine on asthma treatment].

Asthma is a kind of chronic respiratory inflammation, commonly with breathlessness, chest tightness, coughing, recurrent episodes of wheezing and airflow obstruction, severely affecting human health. A variety of immunocytes are involved in this chronic disease. Chinese herbal medicine(CHM) has a long history in the treatment of asthma. A large number of studies have shown that CHM could ameliorate asthma symptoms through regulating cellular immune responses. This paper reviewed the studies of CHM on the regulation of immunocytes and their mechanisms in recent years, including the count of inflammatory cells, maturation of dendritic cells, balance of helper T cell subtypes, induction of regulatory T cells and intracellular signaling pathways. We also proposed the future research directions about the effects of CHM on asthma treatment.

[Canine zona pellucida 3 (CZP3) DNA vaccination reduces mouse fertility effectively].

Objective To construct a DNA contraception vaccine targeting canine zona pellucida 3 (CZP3) antigen and assess the immunological efficacy and contraceptive effect of the vaccine. Methods The CZP3 gene was amplified from total RNA of canine ovary by reverse transcription PCR and analyzed by bioinformatics, such as ProtScale, TMHMM, Signal P, InterProScan, PREDICT PROTEIN, homology modeling, etc. The constructed DNA vaccine pcDNA-CZP3 was used to vaccinate mice, and then its immune effect and contraceptive effect were evaluated in the mice. Results The CZP3 gene had 426 amino acids with two hydrophobic regions at its N-terminal and C-terminal, respectively. The top 22 amino acids at the N-terminal of the CZP3 was the signal peptide and there was a transmembranous helix from extracellular to intracellular at the C-terminal. CZP3 also had 8 B cell epitopes. The DNA contraception vaccine pcDNA3-CZP3 induced high levels of antibody and lower average litter size of mouse compared with the blank and negative control groups significantly. Conclusion The canine contraception DNA vaccine pcDNA-CZP3 has been successfully constructed and it can reduce the mouse fertility remarkably.