Auhtors: Jin F, Xie T, Huang X, Zhao X
PMID: 31070539 PMCID: PMC6319470 DOI: 10.1080/13880209.2018.1548627
Abstract
Context: Berberine is used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years with recent reports of its anticancer activity.
Objective: To test antiangiogenic effects of berberine on human glioblastoma and clarify involvement of the VEGFR2/ERK pathway.
Materials and methods: Cell viability, proliferation and migration assays were performed to determine in vitro antiangiogenic effects of berberine (6.25-200 μmol/L, 6-48 h). Ectopic and orthotopic xenograft models in BALB/c nude mice were induced to determine antitumour and antiangiogenic effects of berberine (50 mg/kg by oral gavage for 28 days) or vehicle control (carboxymethylcellulose sodium).
Results: Berberine inhibited cell viability (IC50 of 42 and 32 μmol/L, respectively) and proliferation of U87 and U251 human glioblastoma cell lines. Berberine (50 μmol/L) inhibited cell migration of HUVEC by 67.50 ± 8.14% in the Transwell assay and tube formation of HUVEC by 73.00 ± 11.12% in the Matrigel assay. In the ectopic xenograft model, tumour weight was significantly decreased by 50 mg/kg of berberine (401.2 ± 71.5 mg vs. 860.7 ± 117.1 mg in vehicle group, p ˂ 0.001). Berberine significantly decreased haemoglobin content (28.81 ± 3.64 μg/mg vs. 40.84 ± 5.15 μg/mg in vehicle group, p ˂ 0.001) and CD31 mRNA expression in tumour tissue. In the orthotopic xenograft model, berberine (50 mg/kg) significantly improved the survival rate of mice (p = 0.0078). Berberine inhibited (p ˂ 0.001) the phosphorylation of VEGFR2 and ERK.
Discussion and conclusions: Berberine inhibited angiogenesis in glioblastoma xenografts by targeting the VEGFR2/ERK pathway. Our work sheds new light on complementary and alternative therapy for glioblastoma.
Keywords: CD31; Ectopic; Matrigel; Transwell; haemoglobin; orthotopic
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31070539/
Archive: https://archive.is/jsdPK
