Evidence for the involvement of COX-2/VEGF and PTEN/Pl3K/AKT pathway the mechanism of oroxin B treated liver cancer

Authors:
Open Access
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Background: Oroxin B (OB) is one of flavonoids isolated from traditional Chinese herbal medicine Oroxylum indicum (L.) Vent. Recent studies suggest that flavonoids have obvious anti-liver tumors effect, but the precise molecular mechanism is still unclear. Objective: The current study was performed to investigate the antitumor effects of OB on human hepatoma cell line SMMC-772 and explore the part of molecular mechanisms in this process. Materials and Methods: MTT method, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling assay and flow cytometry were utilized to detect the inhibition of proliferation and the apoptosis after treating OB in of SMMC-7721 cells. The mRNA and proteins expressions of COX-2, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K), p-AKT, and PTEN were measured by a real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western Blot method. Results: The results showed that OB inhibited proliferation of SMMC-7721 cell in a dose-dependent manner, and induced its apoptosis. Moreover, OB unregulated PTEN and downregulated COX-2, VEGF, p-AKT, and PI3K. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that OB significantly inhibits proliferation and induce apoptosis, which may be strongly associated with the inhibiting COX-2/VEGF and PTEN/PI3K/AKT pathway signaling pathway in SMMC-7721 cells, OB potentially be used as a novel therapeutic agent for liver cancer. Abbreviations used: OB: Oroxin B; MTT: 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide; COX-2: cyclooxygenase-2; PI3K: phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase; PTEN: Phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor; RT-PCR: Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; DAPI: Diamidino 2 phenylindole; PBS: Phosphate buffer saline; FITC: Fluorescein isothiocyanate; PI: Propidium Iodide; RIPA: Radio immunoprecipitation assay lysis buffer; PMSF: Phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride; PAGE: Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

This publication has 38 references indexed in Scilit: