Abstract
Corylin is a flavonoid extracted from the nuts of Psoralea corylifolia L. (Fabaceae), which is a widely used anti-inflammatory and anticancer herb in China. Recent studies revealed antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and bone differentiation–promoting effects of corylin. However, there are no studies examining the anticancer activity of corylin. In this study, we used cells and animal models to examine the antitumor effects of corylin on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and then studied its downstream regulatory mechanisms. The results showed that corylin significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasiveness of HCC cells and suppressed epithelial–mesenchymal transition. We found that the anti-HCC mechanism of corylin’s action lies in the upregulation of tumor suppressor long noncoding RNA growth arrest-specific transcript 5 (GAS5) and the activation of its downstream anticancer pathways. In animal experiments, we also found that corylin can significantly inhibit tumor growth without significant physiological toxicity. The above results suggest that corylin has anti-HCC effects and good potential as a clinical treatment.
Highlights
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is ranked sixth in incidence among cancers worldwide [1,2]
We found that corylin can induce anticancer lncRNA growth arrest-specific transcript 5 (GAS5) and inhibit epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), thereby inhibiting the proliferation, migration, and invasiveness of HCC cells
Corylin is a flavonoid component of P. corylifolia L. and, to the best of our knowledge, only occurs naturally in this plant
Summary
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is ranked sixth in incidence among cancers worldwide [1,2]. In Taiwan, HCC is the second leading cause of death due to cancer [3]. The mainstay treatment of HCC is surgical resection. When HCC progresses to a late stage and cannot be resected, chemotherapy is the only therapeutic option [4,5]. HCC can metastasize and it has primary multidrug resistance, which results in poor efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents [6,7,8]. Most chemotherapeutic agents have strong adverse effects, which severely affect the patient’s quality of life [9,10,11]. The development of effective treatment methods with milder adverse effects has always been a focus of HCC research
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