Scutellaria Barbata D.Don (SBD) Extracts Suppressed Tumor Growth, Metastasis and Angiogenesis in Prostate Cancer Via PI3K/Akt Pathway

Background: Scutellaria barbata D.Don (SBD) is derived from the dried whole plant of Labiate that has been widely used to treat patients with multiple cancer. It was previously reported that the ethanol extract of SBD is able to promote apoptosis, and inhibit cell proliferation and angiogenesis in cancer.Materials and methods: CCK8, Edu assays and colony formation assay were performed to assess the effect of SBD on PCa cell growth. Effect of SBD on apoptosis and cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry. Transwell and wounding healing assay were performed to detected the invasion and migration activities of PCa cells. Western blot was employed to detect the protein expression. 2RRV1 mouse xenograft model was established to detect the effect of SBD on prostate cancer. Angiogenesis was analysed by coculturing PCa cell lines and HUVECs.Results: The results showed that SBD induced a significant decrease in cell viability and clonogenic growth in a dose-dependent manner. SBD induced cell apoptosis and cell cycle G2/M phase arrest by inactivating PI3K/AKT signalling pathway. Treatment with SBE also significantly decreased the cell migration and invasion via phenotypic inversion of EMT that was characterized by the increased expression of E-cadherin and Vimentin, and decreased expression of N-cadherin, which could be partially attributed to inhibiting PI3K/AKT signalling pathway. Subsequently, using AKT inhibitor MK2206, we performed that PI3K/AKT are also involved in cell apoptosis and metastasis of PCa cells stimulated by SBE. In addition, to its direct effects on PCa cells, SBD also exhibited anti-angiogenic properties. SBD alone or conditioned media from SBD-treated PCa cells inhibited HUVEC tube formation on Matrigel without affecting HUVEC viability. Furthermore, 22RV1 xenograft C57BL/6 mice treated with SBE in vivo showed a significant decrease in tumour size and tumour weight without toxicity. In addition, administration with medium- or high-dose of SBE significantly inhibited the cell proliferation and promoted the damage of tumour tissues.Conclusions: Collectively, our in vitro and in vivo findings suggest that SBE had the potential to develop into a safe and potent alternative therapy for PCa patients.

Could Scutellaria barbata D. Don be used for treating lung cancer and SARS-CoV-2?

Dear Editor, Scutellaria barbata D. Don (SBD) is a perennial herb and belongs to the “Lamiaceae” family. This is widely used in China for a long time as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Based on the TCM theory, SBD is in the category of “Heat-Clearing”. Its functions are to remove heat and detoxification, disperse blood stasis and diuresis. [...]

Extraction Optimization, Structural Characterization, and Anti-Hepatoma Activity of Polysaccharides from Scutellaria Barbata D. Don

Background The above experimental results show that SBP-2A isolated and purified from Scutellaria barbata may be a candidate drug for further evaluation in cancer prevention, which provides a clue for further studies on the molecular mechanism of its anticancer activity against human liver cancer cells.Methods The crude polysaccharide of Scutellaria barbata (SBP) was extracted with water and precipitated with alcohol. Optimal extraction conditions were determined by response surface methodology: the solid-liquid ratio was 1:25, the extraction time was 2 h, and the extraction temperature was 90 °C. With these conditions, the average extraction efficiency was 3.85 ± 0.13%. SBP was purified with a DEAE-52 cellulose column and Sephadex G-100 dextran gel column to obtain SBP-1A and SBP-2A fractions. The polysaccharide content, molecular weight, monosaccharide composition and basic structure were preliminarily identified. Then, a MTT assay was used to identify the polysaccharide components with anti-hepatoma effects. The antitumor activity of SBP-2A was evaluated by colony formation tests, morphological observations, apoptosis and cell cycle analyses.Results Structural analysis showed that SBP-1A and SBP-2A were mainly composed of arabinose and galactose, but the molar ratios were different; these were homogeneous acidic polysaccharide components with high purity, and the average molecular weights were 1.15 × 105 Da and 1.4 × 105 Da, respectively. FT-IR spectra showed that SBP-1A and SBP-2A contained uronic acid β-glucan, and the sugar residue of the polysaccharide was mainly pyranose. MTT and colony formation assays showed that SBP-2A significantly inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cells. The cell distribution at different apoptotic stages was determined by the Hoechst 33258 test and Annexin V-FITC/PI staining. Flow cytometric analysis showed that SBP-2A induced HepG2 cell apoptosis by blocking the G1 phase.Conclusions Two polysaccharides (SBP-1A and SBP-2A) had been isolated from Scutellaria barbata. Preliminary characterization of the SBP-1A and SBP-2A was investigated. The anticancer activities were studied in vitro. SBP-2A significantly inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cells and induced cells apoptosis by blocking the G1 phase.

Anti-proliferation effect of Scutellaria barbata D. Don extract on lung cancer

Purpose: To investigate the effect of Scutellaria barbata D. Don extract (SBDE) on apoptosis and proliferation in A549 human lung cancer cells. Methods: Inverted microscope was used to observe morphological changes in A549 cells after exposure to SBDE. Trypan blue staining of living cells was applied to construct cell growth curve after treatment with varying concentrations of SBDE. The influence of SBDE on cell proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle was determined by MTT assay while protein expressions of key apoptosis-related enzymes were evaluated by immuno-cytochemical method. Results: SBDE inhibited the growth of A549 lung cancer cells at a concentration range of 20 - 160 μg/mL. Flow cytometry showed that SBDE induced apoptosis in the A549 cells. The proportion of cells in G0/G1-phase increased significantly (p < 0.01), while the proportion of cells in S-phase and G2/Mphase decreased correspondingly, indicating that the cells were in G0/G1-phase arrest. Cell cycle arrest and apoptosis-inducing effect gradually increased with increase in SBDE concentration. With increasing concentrations of SBDE, there were significant increases in the expressions of caspase-3 (p < 0.05), caspase-8 (p < 0.01) and caspase-9 (p < 0.05), and significant decreases in Ki-67 (p < 0.01) and p21 ras protein (p < 0.01). Conclusion: SBDE exerts significant inhibitory effect on the proliferation of A549 lung cancer cells, which can be developed for the treatment of lung cancer patients.

Hedyotis diffusa plus Scutellaria barbata Suppress the Growth of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer via NLRP3/NF-Κb/MAPK Signaling Pathways

Hedyotis diffusa (HD) plus Scutellaria barbata (SB) have been widely used in antitumor clinical prescribes as one of herb pairs in China. We investigated the effect of aqueous extract from Hedyotis diffusa plus Scutellaria barbata at the equal weight ratio (HDSB11) in inhibiting the growth of murine non-small-cell lung cancer cell (NSCLC) line LLC in vivo and in vitro in this study. Compared with other aqueous extracts, HDSB11 showed the lowest IC50 in inhibiting cell proliferation at 0.43 mg/ml. Besides, HDSB11 effectively suppressed colony formation and induced cell apoptosis. The further assessment of HDSB11 on the murine Lewis-lung-carcinoma-bearing mouse model showed it significantly inhibited tumors’ bioluminescence at the dose of 30 g crude drug/kg. Mechanistically, HDSB11 attenuated the expressions of NLRP3, procaspase-1, caspase-1, PRAP, Bcl-2, and cyclin D1 and downregulated the phosphorylation levels of NF-κB, ERK, JNK, and p38 MAPK. In conclusion, HDSB11 could alleviate cell proliferation and colony formation and induce apoptosis in vitro and tumor growth in vivo, partly via NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways to suppress NLRP3 expression.