Breast Cancer: Targets and Therapy (Aug 2024)
Shenqi Fuzheng Injection Reduces Cisplatin-Induced Kidney Injury via cGAS/STING Signaling Pathway in Breast Cancer Mice Model
Abstract
Yingrui Ma,1,* Bufan Bai,1,* Deng Liu,1 Rong Shi,2 Qianmei Zhou1,3 1Institute of Interdisciplinary Integrative Medicine Research, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 3Shanghai Institute of Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation, Dongfang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Tongji University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Rong Shi, Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Shanghai, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected] Qianmei Zhou, Institute of Interdisciplinary Integrative Medicine Research, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: Shenqi Fuzheng Injection (SQFZ) is a traditional Chinese medicine injection consists of extracts of Codonopsis pilosula and Astragalus mongholicus. Combining SQFZ with conventional chemotherapy may improve the therapeutic efficacy and reduce side-effects of chemotherapy. However, the mechanisms of SQFZ reducing cisplatin-induced kidney injury are still unclear.Methods: The main compounds of SQFZ were identified via UPLC-Q-TOF-MS technique. Using multiple databases to predict potential targets for SQFZ. We established a breast cancer model by injecting 4T1 cells into mice. Tumor growth and body weight were observed. Serum blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (CRE), and glutathione (GSH) levels were measured. The extent of their kidney injury was measured by hematoxylin-eosin staining (HE). Cell apoptosis was identified using Hoechst33258 staining, flow cytometry and TUNEL. We evaluated H2AX and stimulator of interferon genes (STING) expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC), and assessed apoptosis-associated proteins by Western blotting analysis. We also evaluated mitochondrial function. The secretion of the inflammatory cytokines in serum was observed using ELISA assay. The effect of the STING pathway in HK-2 renal tubular epithelial cells exposed to cisplatin alone or combined with SQFZ.Results: The potential targets of SQFZ on kidney injury mainly related to inflammatory responses, oxidation and antioxidant, apoptosis as well as IFN signaling pathway. Cisplatin significantly reduced animal weight, while there were no changes in the combination SQFZ and cisplatin. SQFZ counteracted cisplatin-induced BUN and CRE elevation. SQFZ ameliorated the oxidative stress induced by cisplatin. It diminished cisplatin-induced apoptosis and mitochondrial DNA damage and reversed cisplatin-induced cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate synthase (cGAS)/STING signaling pathway activation. It also improved the mitochondrial dysfunction induced by cisplatin.Conclusions: The results of the present study suggested that SQFZ effectively reduced cisplatin-induced kidney injury by inhibiting cGAS/STING signaling pathway.Keywords: Shenqi Fuzheng Injection, cisplatin, kidney injury, mitochondrial, cGAS/STING, breast cancer, network pharmacology
