Identification of novel targets and mechanisms of wogonin on lung cancer,bladder cancer,and colon cancer

Wogonin(WOG)has been demonstrated to have anti-cancer activity,but the mechanisms remain unclear.In this study,new targets of WOG were predicted for lung cancer,bladder cancer,and colon cancer by using bioinformatics methods.wOG might primarily suppress cancers via regulating arachidonic acid,Ras,MAPK,linoleic acid,PI3K Akt,and folate biosynthesis pathways.3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium(MTS)assay showed that WOG inhibited the proliferation of A549 cells.Real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR(RT-qPCR)results indicated that anti-lung cancer effect of WOG was achieved by regulating the expression of 18 target genes,including AKRIBI0,AKRIC3,BDNF,CAVI,CXCL2,CYP2B6,CYP4F3,DAO,EGF,ENO3,IL6,PLA2GlB,PLA2G2F,PLA2G4A,PTGES,SLCOIBI,SLCOIB3,and TFAP2A.The Kaplan-Meier survival curves further confirmed that DAO,PLA2G1B,SLCO1B3 and TFAP2A were essential targets via which WOG affected lung cancer survival.Moreover,BDNF,FGF2,and PTGS1 were predicted to be the targets via which WOG alleviated cancer proliferation and invasion in bladder cancer.As for colon cancer,WOG might induce autophagy and inhibit proliferation by down-regulating NTF4 and TH.The study will provide clue for using wOG as a promising antineoplastic agent in basic and translational research,and bring light to the application of herbs containing WOG as food supplements.

Berberine improves central memory formation of CD8^(+)T cells:Implications for design of natural product-based vaccines

Berberine(BBR)as one of the most effective natural products has been increasingly used to treat various chronic diseases due to its immunosuppressive/tolerogenic activities.However,it is unknown if BBR can be applied without abrogating the efforts of vaccination.Here we show that priming of CD8^(+)T cells in the presence of BBR lead to improved central memory formation(Tcm)with substantially reduced effector proliferation,primarily orchestrated through activation of AMPK and Stat5.Tcm derived from vaccinated mice fed with BBR were able to adoptively transfer protective immunity to naIve recipients.Vaccination of BBR-fed mice conferred better memory protection against infection without losing immediate effector efficacy,suggesting appreciable benefits from using BBR in vaccination.Thus,our study may help to lay the groundwork for mechanistic understanding of the immunomodulatory effects of natural products and their potential use as adjuvant that allows the design of novel vaccines with more desirable properties.