Echinacea purpurea suppresses the cell survival and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma through regulating the PI3K/Akt pathway

Wenqian Xu; Bin Hu; Yuliang Cheng; Yahui Guo; Weirong Yao; He Qian

doi:10.1016/j.biocel.2021.106115

Echinacea purpurea suppresses the cell survival and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma through regulating the PI3K/Akt pathway

Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2022 Jan:142:106115. doi: 10.1016/j.biocel.2021.106115. Epub 2021 Nov 4.

Authors

Wenqian Xu¹, Bin Hu¹, Yuliang Cheng¹, Yahui Guo¹, Weirong Yao², He Qian³

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China.
² School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China. Electronic address: qianhe@jiangnan.edu.cn.

PMID: 34743003
DOI: 10.1016/j.biocel.2021.106115

Abstract

Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench (Ep) is widely used as a kind of dietary supplements, and possesses various pharmacological activities, including immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antitumor effects. However, the inhibitory effects of Ep on the growth and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is unclear. Here, the preventive effect and potential mechanism of Ep on HCC was elucidated by systems pharmacology and molecular docking. The results showed that Ep could significantly ameliorate HCC-induced tumor growth and migration in vivo and in vitro. System pharmacology results indicated that 180 genes associated with HCC were regarded as the potential therapeutic targets of Ep, mainly involved in metabolic pathways, cancer pathways, proteoglycans in cancer and PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, which might be a crucial pathway in HCC EMT. A herb-component-target-pathway network was constructed to reveal the interactions between Ep and HCC. Finally, predicted PI3K/Akt pathway was further validated by molecular docking and western blot experiment. This study showed that Ep ameliorates HCC-induced tumor cell survival and migration in mice via the regulation of the PI3K/Akt pathway. Thus, Ep might be a potential new strategy to prevent the growth and metastasis of HCC.

Keywords: Echinacea purpurea; Epithelial–mesenchymal transition; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Mechanisms; Metastasis; System pharmacology.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular*