Frontiers in Pharmacology (Nov 2022)

Schisantherin A inhibits cell proliferation by regulating glucose metabolism pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma

  • Fan Feng,
  • Lianhong Pan,
  • Jiaqin Wu,
  • Mingying Liu,
  • Long He,
  • Li Yang,
  • Wei Zhou

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2022.1019486
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13

Abstract

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Schisantherin A (STA) is a traditional Chinese medicine extracted from the plant Schisandra chinensis, which has a wide range of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and other pharmacological effects. This study investigates the anti-hepatocellular carcinoma effects of STA and the underlying mechanisms. STA significantly inhibits the proliferation and migration of Hep3B and HCCLM3 cells in vitro in a concentration-dependent manner. RNA-sequencing showed that 77 genes are upregulated and 136 genes are downregulated in STA-treated cells compared with untreated cells. KEGG pathway analysis showed significant enrichment in galactose metabolism as well as in fructose and mannose metabolism. Further gas chromatography-mass spectrometric analysis (GC-MS) confirmed this, indicating that STA significantly inhibits the glucose metabolism pathway of Hep3B cells. Tumor xenograft in nude mice showed that STA has a significant inhibitory effect on tumor growth in vivo. In conclusion, our results indicate that STA can inhibit cell proliferation by regulating glucose metabolism, with subsequent anti-tumor effects, and has the potential to be a candidate drug for the treatment of liver cancer.

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