Oridonin exhibits anti-angiogenic activity in human umbilical vein endothelial cells by inhibiting VEGF-induced VEGFR-2 signaling pathway

Abstract

Oridonin has been found to be a potential anti-angiogenesis agent. However, its functional targets and the underlying mechanisms are still vague. In vitro studies we found that oridonin not only inhibited VEGF-induced cell proliferation, migration and tube formation but also caused G2/M phase arrest and triggered cellular apoptosis in HUVECs. In mechanistic studies revealed that oridonin exhibited the anti-angiogenic potency, at least in part, through the down-regulation of VEGFR2-mediated FAK/MMPs, mTOR/PI3K/Akt and ERK/p38 signaling pathways which led to reduced invasion, migration, and tube formation in HUVECs. Our results could provide evidence that oridonin exerts strong anti-angiogenesis activities via specifically targeting VEGFR2 and its signaling pathway.