Research Progress on Anti-tumor Mechanism of Clearing Heat-Toxin Intervention of Apoptosis-related Proteins

Apoptosis is a spontaneous programmed cell death process,which is closely related to the occurrence and development of tumors.Inducing apoptosis of tumor cells has become an important way of anti-tumor therapy.Studies have found that clearing heat-toxin Chinese medicine has a significant effect on inducing apoptosis,which may be the key mechanism of anti-tumor of Chinese medicine.By reviewing the theoretical origin of anti-tumor TCM of clearing heat-toxin Chinese herbs and the pharmacological research progress of intervening apoptosis-related proteins to promote apoptosis of tumor cells,this paper provides a basis for TCM to induce apoptosis of tumor cells to prevent and treat malignant tumors.

Inhibitory effect of norcantharidin on the growth of human gallbladder carcinoma GBC-SD cells in vitro

BACKGROUND: Gallbladder carcinoma is a lethal malignant neoplasm with dismal surgical results. Unfortunately, the adjuvant therapies for gallbladder carcinoma such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy are also disappointing. We reported that norcantharidin (NCTD), a demethylated form of cantharidin, which is an active ingredient of the Chinese medicine Mylabris, was used against human gallbladder carcinoma GBC-SD cells. In the present study, we further studied the mechanism underlying the inhibitory effect of NCTD on growth of human gallbladder carcinoma GBC-SD cells in vitro. METHODS: Human gallbladder carcinoma GBC-SD cells were grown in cell culture and divided into a NCTD group and a control group. The inhibitory effect of NCTD on growth of GBC-SD cells was investigated by evaluation of proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis and morphological changes of the cells. Cell proliferation was assessed by tetrazolium-based colorimetric assay. The induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry. The morphological changes of the cells were observed by light- and electron-microscopy. To elucidate the anticancer mechanism of NCTD, expression of the proliferation-related gene proteins PCNA, Ki-67, cyclin-D-1 and p27 and the apoptosis-related gene proteins Bcl-2, Bax and Survivin were determined by the streptavidin-biotin complex method and RT-PCR. RESULTS: NCTD inhibited the proliferation of GBCSD cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner, with an IC50 of 56.18 mu g/ml at 48 hours. The flow cytometric profiles revealed that NCTD (at the IC50 for 48 hours) significantly increased the proportion of cells in G(2)/M phase and significantly decreased the proportion of cells in S phase, with a significantly increased rate of cell apoptosis. After treatment with the 48-hour IC50 dose of NCTD, cell shrinkage, vacuolar cytoplasm, membrane budding, karyorrhexis, karyolysis, chromosome condensation and chromatin aggregation in some GBCSD cells were observed by light-microscopy; decreased microvilli, Golgiosome atrophy, mitochondrial swelling, nuclear shrinkage, chromosome condensation and typical apoptosis bodies were seen by electron-microscopy, and the morphological changes of apoptosis occurred in GBCSD cells. The expression of PCNA, Ki-67 and Bcl-2 proteins decreased significantly; the Pix or relative levels of PCNA mRNA, cyclin-D-1 mRNA, Bcl-2 mRNA and Survivin mRNA decreased significantly, whereas the Pix or relative levels of p27 mRNA and Bax mRNA increased significantly. CONCLUSIONS: NCTD inhibits the growth of human gallbladder carcinoma GBC-SD cells in vitro. Its anticancer mechanism may correlate with inhibition of cell proliferation, arrest of the cell cycle, blockage of DNA synthesis, influence on cell metabolism, induction of cell apoptosis and influence on expression of the proliferation-related genes PCNA, Ki-67, cyclin-D-1 and p27, and the apoptosis-related genes Bcl-2, Bax and Survivin in human gallbladder carcinoma GBC-SD cells.

Infant guinea pig retina model of glutamate toxicity and intervention of basic fibroblast growth factor

Impaired vision with oligemic ophthalmopathy is a result of excitotoxicity caused by excitatory amino acids, resulting in pathological changes, such as loss of retinal neurons and in particular retinal ganglionic cells. The present study utilized infant guinea pigs, aged 45-50 days, to establish injury models via intraperitoneal injection of fixed sodium glutamate doses. Results from hematoxylin- eosin staining revealed significantly reduced retinal ganglionic cell numbers and retinal damage at 10 days after 7 consecutive days of 3 g/kg sodium glutamate treatment; these animals served as the injury model group. In addition, models of moderate injury （glutamate 3 g/kg daily, for 7 consecutive days） were intraperitoneally pretreated with basic fibroblast growth factor （800 U/kg daily）. Immunohistochemistry results confirmed reduced anti-apoptotic gene bcl-2 expression in the ganglion cell layer of glutamate-injured guinea pigs. Expression of the pro-apoptotic gene caspase-3 was increased in the ganglion cell layer and inner plexiform layer. Somatostatin expression was primarily distributed in the ganglion cell layer and inner nuclear layer. Expression of the presynaptic element synaptophysin was weak. However, following basic fibroblast growth factor injection, expressions of the above-described bioactive molecules were reversed, which suggested that basic fibroblast growth factor exerted protective effects on sodium glutamate-induced retinal injury in infant guinea pigs by regulating expression of synaptophysin, somatostatin, Bcl-2, and caspase-3.

增生性瘢痕成纤维细胞中分泌型凋亡相关蛋白1相互作用蛋白的研究

目的 寻找与分泌型凋亡相关蛋白1 （secreted apoptosis-related protein1,SARP1）存在相互作用的蛋白质分子,分析其分子机制.方法 成功构建的重组SARP1腺病毒载体Ad-SARP1,转染进入原代培养的增生性瘢痕成纤维细胞（HSFb）.免疫共沉淀法沉淀出蛋白,经聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳（SDS-PAGE）分离后,用考马斯亮蓝染色,对SDS-PAGE胶上切取的电泳蛋白条带进行酶解与质谱分析,根据质谱分析获得的肽序列谱图自动进行数据库搜索.结果 在阳细胞对照组和导入Ad-SARP1感染的细胞当中,均共沉淀出7条蛋白带,相对分子质量分别约为93×103、43×103、40×103、37×103、31×103、26×103和12×103;在未加SARP1抗体组则没有沉淀出蛋白条带.分析蛋白条带得到6个可能与SARP1有相互作用的蛋白,分别为骨膜蛋白前体（periostin precursor或OSF-2）、牙周韧带相关蛋白1（asporin precursor或PLAP1）、磷酸甘油激酶1（phosphoglycerate kinase 1）、未知蛋白rCG50690、载脂蛋白（apolipoprotein A-I,Apo-AI）、硫氧还蛋白1（thioredoxin 1,TRX1）.结论 通过免疫共沉淀法结合液相色谱/质谱联用离子阱检测技术,可以获得SARP1的相互作用蛋白,为研究SARP1调控HSFb凋亡信号通路的作用机制提供了新的线索.

Hawthorn Extract Alleviates Atherosclerosis through Regulating Inflammation and Apoptosis Related Factors: An Experimental Study

Objective: To determine the effects of hawthorn extract on serum lipid levels, pathological changes in aortic atherosclerosis plaque, inflammatory factors, and apoptosis-related protein and mRNA expression in apolipoprotein E gene knockout(ApoE^(-/-)) mice. Methods: Thirty-six ApoE^(-/-) mice were fed with a high-fat diet starting at the age of 8 weeks. Mice were randomly divided into 3 groups by a random number table including model group, hawthorn extract group, and simvastatin group, 12 mice in each group. Twelve 8-week-old C57BL/6 mice were fed a basic diet and served as control. The mice in the control and model groups were administered 0.2 mL saline daily, the mice in the hawthorn extract and simvastatin groups were administered with 50 mg/kg hawthorn extract or 5 mg/kg simvastatin daily for 16 weeks. After 16 weeks, plasma lipids including total cholesterol(TC), triglyceride(TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C) were determined by an enzymatic assay. Aortic atherosclerotic lesions were observed by light microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. Plasma levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1(MCP-1), interleukin-1β(IL-1β), adiponectin(APN), and hypersensitive C-reactive protein(hs-CRP) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). Protein and mRNA expressions of Bax and Bcl-2 in the aorta were assessed by Western blotting and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction(qR T-PCR), respectively. Results: Compared to the control group, the plasma levels of TC, TG and LDL-C were significantly increased and HDL-C were significantly decreased in the model group(P<0.01). Compared to the model group, treatment with hawthorn extract significantly decreased the plasma levels of TC, TG, and LDL-C and increased the plasma level of HDL-C in ApoE^(-/-)mice(P<0.01). The levels of MCP-1, IL-1β, and hs-CRP in the model group were significantly increased and APN was significantly decreased compared with the control group(P<0.01). Compared to the model group, treatment with hawthorn extract decreased the levels of MCP-1, IL-1β, and hs-CRP and increased the APN level(P<0.01). Compared to the control group, the protein and mR NA expression of Bax in the model group were significantly increased and the expression of Bcl-2 was significantly decreased(P<0.01). Hawthorn extract also reduced the protein and mR NA expression of Bax and increased the Bcl-2 expression in the aorta(P<0.01). Conclusion: Hawthorn extract has anti-atherosclerosis and stabilizing unstable plaque effects. The mechanism may be related to the inflammation and apoptosis signaling pathways.