Xiao Xianxiongtang Regulates Ca2+ Load and Inhibits Epithelial-mesenchymal Transition， Invasion， and Migration of MGC-803 Cells： Based on Wnt5a/ Ca2+/NFAT Signaling Pathway / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo explore the effect of Xiao Xianxiongtang （XXXT） on the transforming growth factor （TGF）-β1-induced invasion， metastasis， and epithelial-mesenchymal transition （EMT） of gastric cancer MGC-803 cells and the underlying mechanism. MethodThe molecular docking between XXXT and nuclear factor of activated T cells （NFAT） was performed by CB-DOCK （http：//clab.labshare.cn/cb-dock/）. The invasion and metastasis model of MGC-803 cells was established with 10 μg·L-1 TGF-β1. MGC-803 cells were classified into blank group， model group， 0.1 g·L-1 XXXT group， 0.2 g·L-1 XXXT group， and 0.4 g·L-1 XXXT group. For further clarifying the key role of Wnt5a/Ca2+/NFAT signaling pathway in the inhibition of XXXT on gastric cancer， MGC-803 cells were transfected with Wnt5a overexpression plasmid， and then the cells were classified into blank plasmid group， Wnt5a-OE group， blank plasmid + XXXT （0.4 g·L-1） group， and Wnt5a-OE + XXXT （0.4 g·L-1） group. Cell viability was determined by cell counting kit-8 （CCK-8） assay， cell invasion and migration ability by Transwell invasion assay and wound healing assay， expression of EMT-related proteins （E-cadherin， N-cadherin， Vimentin， Snail） and Wnt5a/Ca2+/NFAT signaling pathway-related key proteins ［Wnt5a， calcineurin （CaN）， NFAT1， and p-NFAT1］ by Western blot， and changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentration by immunofluorescence assay. ResultMolecular docking suggested that XXXT acted on Wnt5a/Ca2+/NFAT signaling pathway. XXXT （0.1， 0.2， 0.4 g·L-1） significantly promoted the loss of MGC-803 cell viability （P<0.05，P<0.01）. It inhibited cells from invading the transwell lower chamber and slowed down the healing of cell wounds in a dose-dependent manner （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Moreover， it promoted the expression of E-cadherin while suppressed the expression of N-cadherin， Vimentin， and Snail （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Further experiments showed that XXXT could inhibit the expression of Wnt5a， CaN， NFAT1， and p-NFAT1， and reduce the nuclear expression of NFAT1 and the transcription activity mediated by NFAT1， so as to reduce the cellular Ca2+ concentration （P<0.05， P<0.01）. XXXT can reverse the effect of Wnt5a （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionXXXT can attenuate the invasion， metastasis， and EMT of MGC-803 cells via the Wnt5a/Ca2+/NFAT pathway， thereby weakening the tumor-promoting effect of TGF-β1. In summary， XXXT may exert therapeutic effect on gastric cancer by regulating the invasion， metastasis， and EMT of gastric cancer cells.

Extract from Modified Xiao Xianxiongtang Inhibits Epithelial-mesenchymal Transition and Invasion and Migration Mediated by TGF-β1 of Human Gastric Cancer MGC-803 Cells via Wnt5a/Ca2+/NFAT Signaling Pathway / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:This studu aims to investigate the effect of aqueous extract of modified Xiao Xianxiongtang on the epithelial mesenchymal transition（EMT） and the change of its invasion and migration ability of human gastric cancer MGC-803 cells mediated by transforming growth factor-<italic>β</italic>₁（TGF-<italic>β</italic>₁），and to explore the mechanism of regulating Wnt5a/Ca²⁺/ activated T-cell nuclear factor（NFAT） signaling pathway to inhibit EMT and invasion and metastasis of MGC-803 cells. Method:TGF-<italic>β</italic>₁（10 μg·L^-1）was used to induce EMT and the invasion and metastasis model of human gastric cancer MGC-803 cells. Transwell chamber experiment， scratchhealing experiment， Western blot and immunofluorescence assay were used to detect cell invasion and migration ability， expression of EMT marker protein and key protein expression of Wnt5a/Ca²⁺/NFAT signaling pathway， and intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration. Result:Compared with the blank group， TGF-<italic>β</italic>₁ could significantly enhance the invasion and migration ability of MGC-803 cells（<italic>P</italic><0.01）， down-regulate the level of E-cadherin（<italic>P</italic><0.01）， up-regulate protein expressions of N-cadherin， Snail and Vimentin（<italic>P</italic><0.01）， and induce cell Wnt5a， calcineurin （CaN）， total protein of activated T-cell nuclear factor 1（NFAT1）， up-regulation of phosphorylated proteins p-NFAT1 and NFAT1 nucleoprotein and intracellular accumulation of Ca²⁺（<italic>P</italic><0.01）. Compared with the TGF-<italic>β</italic>₁ group， modified Xiao Xianxiongtang （10， 20， 40 mg·L^-1） could significantly inhibit this phenomenon，and 40 mg·L^-1 had the best effect（<italic>P</italic><0.05，<italic>P</italic><0.01）.The specific inhibitors of Wnt5a/Ca²⁺/NFAT signaling pathway （<italic>R</italic>）-（+）-Bay-K-8644 and modified Xiao Xianxiongtang （40 mg·L^-1） could significantly inhibit theinvasion and migration of MGC-803 cells mediated by TGF-<italic>β</italic>₁， up-regulate the level of E-cadherin， and down-regulate expressions of N-cadherin， Snail， Vimentin， Wnt5a， CaN and NFAT1 proteins and reduce the intracellular accumulation of Ca²⁺（<italic>P</italic><0.05，<italic>P</italic><0.01）.Moreover， （<italic>R</italic>）-（+）-Bay-K-8644 combined with modified Xiao Xianxiongtang （40 mg·L^-1） had stronger inhibitory effect（<italic>P</italic><0.05，<italic>P</italic><0.01）. Conclusion:These results suggest that modified Xiao Xianxiongtang can inhibit the EMT mediated by TGF-<italic>β</italic>₁ via Wnt5a/Ca²⁺/NFAT signaling pathway，thereby reducing the invasion and migration ability of MGC-803 cells.

Research Progress on Antitumor Active Components and Mechanism of Xiao Xianxiongtang / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Tumor is one of the diseases that seriously endanger human health， and how to treat tumor effectively is still one of the important problems in the field of medicine. At present， most of the radiotherapies and chemical drugs for cancer have serious side effect despite of an obvious efficacy. With a unique syndrome differentiation treatment system and overall concept， traditional Chinese medicine has become the key research and development object of antitumor drugs due to many advantages， such as multiple channels， multiple levels， multiple links， multiple targets and less toxicity， and could can fully mobilize the immune and epidemic prevention mechanism of the body. A large number of studies have shown that Xiao Xianxiongtang and its effective ingredients have obvious antitumor effect. Many doctors have applied Xiao Xianxiongtang and modified formulas in clinical treatment of tumors， and relevant pharmacological studies have also confirmed the effectiveness of this formula， but with a lack of systematic summary of its effective ingredients and its mechanism of action. Now， with alkaloids， ketones， sterols and phenols in Xiao Xianxiongtang as the starting point， this study mainly focuses on inhibition of tumor cell proliferation， invasion and migration， induction of tumor cell apoptosis and autophagy， inhibition of tumor cell cycle， enhancement of tumor cell sensitivity， inhibition of tumor angiogenesis and regulation of immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment from two ways to sort out composition， function and mechanism of drugs. In this paper， effective components， main targets and mechanism of intervention in the tumor development of Xiao Xianxiongtang were reviewed， in order to provide a new idea for subsequent antitumor research and development of this prescription.

Effect of environment temperature on the recovery of microdialysis probe for monoamine neurotransmitter / 浙江大学学报·医学版

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of environment temperature on the recovery of microdialysis probe for neurotransmitters.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Neurotransmitters NE, DA, and 5-HT were dialyzed with 4 mm membrane length microdialysis probes in different environmental temperature. There were three conditions: lower temperature condition, the temperature of standard solution and that of the perfusate were both 24 degree; higher temperature condition,both were 37.5 degree; and the middle temperature:the perfusate was 24 degree and the standard solution was 37.5 degree. The concentrations of neurotransmitters in the dialyzed solution and the standard solution were analyzed by HPLC-ECD, and recoveries were then calculated.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>In lower temperature condition,the recoveries of microdialysis probe for NE, DA, 5-HT were 18.3 %, 19.6% and 16.9%, respectively. In middle temperature condition, the recoveries were 29.6%, 30.7% and 24.3%, respectively, and in higher temperature condition, those were 49.2%, 47.5% and 37.2%, respectively. With the analysis of variance, the recoveries for NE, DA, 5-HT increased with temperature significantly (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Both the perfusate and the standard solution affects the environmental temperature of microdialysis probe, which in turns affects the recovery of microdialysis probe for neurotransmitters. So in order to calculate the recovery more accurately, the standard solution/the perfusate should be kept in body temperature.</p>