摘要
目的:探索在低氧状态下熊果酸对结肠癌细胞化疗增敏的作用及其机制。创新点:首次发现了熊果酸对结肠癌细胞株有化疗增敏作用,这种效果与抑制HIF-1α和MDR1相关。熊果酸在低氧条件下还能抑制肿瘤新生血管生成。方法:分别在常氧和乏氧状态下,在三种结肠癌细胞株RKO、Lo Vo和SW480对5-FU和奥沙利铂的细胞增殖和凋亡实验中,观察熊果酸对提高结肠癌细胞化疗的敏感性(图1和2)。通过定量实时聚合酶链反应和免疫印迹评估HIF-1α、MDR1和血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)的基因转录和蛋白表达水平(图3和4)。通过体外血管形成实验来评价熊果酸对新生血管抑制作用(图5)。结论:熊果酸在乏氧状态下抑制HIF-1α的积累和MDR1的基因和蛋白表达,并抑制新生VEGF的表达,同时对结肠癌细胞化疗有增敏作用。
Objective: To explore the efficacy of ursolic acid in sensitizing colon cancer cells to chemotherapy under hypoxia and its underlying mechanisms. Methods: Three colon cancer cell lines (RKO, LoVo, and SW480) were used as in vitro models. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) and oxaliplatin were used as chemotherapeutic drugs. Cell viability and apoptosis were tested to evaluate the sensitivity of colon cancer cells to chemotherapy. The transcription and ex- pression levels of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), multidrug resistance gene 1 (MDR1), and vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) were assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and im- munoblotting. Cycloheximide and MG132 were used to inhibit protein synthesis and degradation, respectively. In vitro tube formation assay was used to evaluate angiogenesis. Results: We demonstrated the chemosensitizing effects of ursolic acid with 5-FU and oxaliplatin in three colon cancer cell lines under hypoxia. This effect was correlated to its inhibition of MDR1 through HIF-la. Moreover, ursolic acid was capable of inhibiting HIF-1α accumulation with little effects on its constitutional expression in normoxia. In addition, ursolic acid also down-regulated VEGF and inhibited tumor angiogenesis. Conclusions: Ursolic acid exerted chemosensitizing effects in colon cancer cells under hypoxia by inhibiting HIF-la accumulation and the subsequent expression of the MDR1 and VEGF.
基金
Project supported by the Zhejiang Science and Technology Research Program of China(No.2013C33229)
the Traditional Chinese Medicine Program of Zhejiang Province of China(Nos.2013ZA081 and 2016ZA129)