OncoTargets and Therapy (Dec 2020)
Research Progress on the Anti-Cancer Molecular Mechanisms of Huaier
Abstract
Tongtong Qi,1 Yonghong Dong,2 Zili Gao,1 Jun Xu3 1Department of General Surgery, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030001, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Gastroenteropancreatic & Hernia Surgery, Shanxi Provincial People’s Hospital, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030012, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of General Surgery, The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030001, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Yonghong Dong Tel +86 13803408484Email [email protected]: Huaier (Trametes robiniophila Murr), a Chinese traditional herb of medicine, has demonstrated promising curative effects in clinical treatment for various tumors. There are documented experiments showing the biological functions of Huaier with its antineoplastic molecular mechanisms: restraining proliferation and metastasis, arresting cell cycle, inducing apoptosis, pyrosis, and autophagy, anti-intratumoral angiogenesis, attenuating characteristics of tumor stem-like cells, interfering with the function of the tumor-related immune system, reversing drug resistance, and enhancing the sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs, etc. In addition, studies suggest that non-coding RNA (ncRNA) acts a pivotal part in cancer occurrence and development, and demonstrates that Huaier adjusts the performance of certain lncRNA (long non-coding RNA) and proceeds to affect the microRNA and its target genes, rendering an anti-tumor effect. Huaier also modulates the expression of lncRNA to attenuate the activity of ncRNA-sponged microRNA and then inhibits the expression of downstream target genes. We summarize and illustrate the experimentally confirmed anti-cancer molecular mechanisms of Huaier, to inspire new ideas for researchers in relevant fields.Keywords: Huaier, antineoplastic mechanisms, breast cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, pulmonary cancer
