Oroxylin A prevents inflammation-related tumor through down-regulation of inflammatory gene expression by inhibiting NF-κB signaling.

Increasing evidence suggests that inflammatory microenvironment plays a critical role at different stages of tumor development. However, the molecular mechanisms of the interaction between inflammation and proliferation of cancer cells remain poorly defined. Here we reported the inhibitory effects of oroxylin A on the inflammation-stimulated proliferation of tumor cells and delineated the mechanism of its action. The results indicated that treatment with oroxylin A inhibited NF-κB p65 nuclear translocation and phosphorylation of IκBα and IKKα/ß in both human colon tumor HCT116 cells and human monocytes THP-1 cells. In addition, in THP-1 cells, oroxylin A significantly suppressed lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced secretion of prototypical proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 but not IL-1ß, and it was confirmed at the transcription level. Moreover, oroxylin A inhibited the proliferation of HCT116 cells stimulated by LPS-induced THP-1 cells in co-culture microenvironment. In summary, oroxylin A modulated NF-κB signaling pathway involved in inflammation-induced cancer initiation and progression and therefore could be a potential cancer chemoprevention agent for inflammation-related cancer.

Anti-thrombotic activity of DT-13, a saponin isolated from the root tuber of Liriope muscari.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the anti-thrombotic activity of DT-13 in experimental animal models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The anti-thrombotic activity of DT-13 was evaluated by measuring the thrombus induced by inferior vena cava (IVC) ligation in mice and rats. The anti-thrombotic mechanism of DT-13 was investigated by assessing the mRNA expression levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tissue factor (TF) in rat IVC tissue around thrombus. RESULTS: DT-13 markedly inhibited thrombosis induced by IVC ligation for 6 h in mice (2.0 and 4.0 mg/kg, p.o.) and for 18 h in rats (1.4 mg/kg, p.o.). Furthermore, DT-13 down-regulated the increased mRNA expression levels of IL-6 and TF in rats. CONCLUSIONS: DT-13 has an anti-thrombotic activity due to down-regulation of the increased mRNA expression levels of IL-6 and TF.

HQS-3, a newly synthesized flavonoid, possesses potent anti-tumor effect in vivo and in vitro.

HQS-3 is a newly baicalein derivative with a benzene substitution. We investigated the anticancer effect of HQS-3 in vivo and in vitro. HQS-3 significantly decreased tumor growth in mice inoculated with Heps and HepG2 cells; and had little influence on the state and weight of animals. After treatment with 20 mg/kg HQS-3, the inhibitory rate of tumor weight in mice inoculated with Heps and HepG2 cells were 63.62% and 68.03%, respectively. Meanwhile, HQS-3 inhibited the viability of various kinds of tumor cells with IC50 values in the range of 22.98-54.32 µM after 48 h treatment measured by MTT-assay. HQS-3 remarkably inhibited viability of hepatoma cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner and induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells by DAPI staining and Annexin V/PI double staining. The apoptosis-induction effect of HQS-3 was attributed to its ability to modulate the activity of caspase-9, caspase-3 and PARP. Moreover, the expression of bax protein was increased while the bcl-2 protein was decreased, leading to an increase in Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. The accumulation of ROS induced by HQS-3 in HepG2 cells was also observed. The further results suggested that HQS-3 induced mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis by increasing ROS level and inhibiting the expression of anti-oxidative protein SOD2. HQS-3 exerted anti-tumor activity both in vitro and in vivo via inducing tumor cells apoptosis, and these results suggested that it deserves further investigation as a novel chemotherapy for human tumors.

Oroxylin A, a classical natural product, shows a novel inhibitory effect on angiogenesis induced by lipopolysaccharide.

BACKGROUND: There is an obvious relationship among angiogenesis and inflammation. From previous study, we learn that oroxylin A possesses anti-angiogenic activity in vitro and in ovo. It also has an inhibitory effect on inflammation. But whether oroxylin A suppresses the inflammation-induced angiogenesis is still unknown. Our present study focuses on the role of oroxylin A in targeting LPS-induced angiogenesis, inflammatory and related pathways. METHODS: The effects of oroxylin A on angiogenesis were investigated by transwell assay, tube formation assay, rat aortic ring assay and chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model. Western blotting analysis was used to detect the expression of certain proteins. RESULTS: We found that oroxylin A inhibited LPS-induced migration and tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), as well as microvessel sprouting from rat aotric ring in vitro and the angiogenesis of chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model in ovo. The results also indicated that oroxylin A could inhibit the expression of LPS acceptor toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and the activities of its downstream mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), including reducing expressions of the phosphorylation of JNK, p38, and ERK. Moreover, oroxylin A prevented NF-κB dimers from translocating to the nucleus. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, oroxylin A can suppress the angiogenesis induced by LPS and it may affect the LPS/TLR4 signaling pathway.

Oroxylin A inhibits matrix metalloproteinase-2/9 expression and activation by up-regulating tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2 and suppressing the ERK1/2 signaling pathway.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play important roles in the invasion and migration of cancer cells. In this study, we used in vitro and in vivo assays to examine the inhibitory effects of oroxylin A, one of the main bioactive flavonoid extracted from Scutellaria radix, on the human breast carcinoma cell MDA-MB-231 invasion and migration. We found that oroxylin A can suppress cell adhesion, invasion and migration in a concentration-dependent manner. Moreover, oroxylin A led to the reduction of the activity and expression levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in gelatin zymography, real-time PCR and western blotting analysis. Further elucidation of the mechanism revealed that oroxylin A increased the expression of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2), the endogenous inhibitor of MMP-2, and repressed the phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA)-induced translocation of protein kinase Cδ (PKCδ), phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2) and binding activity of the transcription factor activator protein-1 (AP-1) which are upstream signaling molecules in MMP-9 expression. Our results also indicated that oroxylin A inhibited the lung metastasis of murine melanoma cell B16-F10 in vivo. Therefore, we proposed that oroxylin A might be developed as a therapeutic potential candidate for the treatment of cancer metastasis.