Effects of Rhaponticum uniflorum on angiogenesis and apoptosis of H22 transplanted tumor tissue in mice / 中国药学杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of Rhaponticum uniflorum extract (RUE) on angiogenesis and apoptosis of H22 transplanted tumor tissue in mice. METHODS: Mice bearing H22 hepatoma cells were randomly assigned into 5 groups model, high, medium and low dose RUE, and 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) group. The intervention was lasted for 10 d. The pathological changes were detected with hematoxylin & eosin (HE) staining, the apoptosis of hepatoma cells were determined by DNA laddering method, the microvessel densities (MVD) were detected using immunohistochemical assay, and the protein expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) were detected by Western blot method. RESULTS: RUE treatment reduced the cell proliferation, aggravated the necrosis of transplanted tumor tissue, reduced DNA fragmentation of H22 hepatoma cells, decreased MVD of tumor tissue, and down-regulated the protein expression of VEGF, VEGFR2 and HIF-1α of the transplanted tumor tissue, as compared with the model group. CONCLUSION: RUE could exhibit anti-angiogenic and pro-apoptotic effects against H22 hepatoma cells in mice, and its anti-angiogenic mechanism is probably related to down-regulation of VEGF, VEGFR2 and HIF-1α proteins.