OncoTargets and Therapy (Jan 2021)
Physalis alkekengi var. franchetii Extracts Exert Antitumor Effects on Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Multiple Myeloma by Inhibiting STAT3 Signaling
Abstract
Yufei Fu,1 Fanfan Zhu,1 Zhongjun Ma,2 Bin Lv,1 Xi Wang,1 Chunyan Dai,1 Xiaoqiong Ma,1 Pei Liu,1 Hang Lv,1 Xin Chen,3 Zhe Chen,1 Li Shen4 1Key Laboratory of Digestive Pathophysiology of Zhejiang Province, Insititute of Cancer Research, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Institute of Marine Biology and Natural Products, Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 4Institute of Basic Theory of Chinese Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medicine Science, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Li ShenInstitute of Basic Theory of Chinese Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medicine Science, 16 Nanxiao Street, Dongzhimennei, Dongcheng Distract, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-18611325278Email [email protected] ChenKey Laboratory of Digestive Pathophysiology of Zhejiang Province, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, 548 Binwen Road, Hangzhou 310053, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-571-86620280Email [email protected]: Physalis alkekengi var. franchetii is an herb that possesses various ethnopharmacological applications. Herein, our current study focuses on the antitumor effect of a combination of physalins, which are regarded as the most representative secondary metabolites from calyces of Physalis alkekengi var. franchetii.Materials and Methods: We mainly investigated the antitumor activity of the physalins extracted from Physalis alkekengi var. franchetii on both solid and hematologic cancers. The main cells used in this study were NCI-H1975 and U266 cells. The major assays used were the CCK-8 assay, Western blot analyses, immunofluorescence assay and Annexin V assay, and a xenograft mouse model was used.Results: The results showed that physalins exhibited a strong antitumoural effect on both non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and multiple myeloma (MM) cells by suppressing constitutive STAT3 activity and further inhibiting the downstream target gene expression induced by STAT3 signaling, which resulted in the enhanced apoptosis of tumor cells. Moreover, physalins significantly reduced tumor growth in xenograft models of lung cancer.Conclusion: Collectively, these findings demonstrated that the physalins from Physalis alkekengi var. franchetii may potentially act as cancer preventive or chemotherapeutic agents for NSCLC and MM by inhibiting the STAT3 signaling pathway. The present study served as a promising guide to further explore the precise mechanism of Physalis alkekengi var. franchetii in cancer treatment.Keywords: Physalis, apoptosis, non-small cell lung carcinoma, multiple myeloma, STAT3
