Abstract
Signal transducer and activator of transcription factor 3 (STAT3) plays an important role in the proliferation and angiogenesis in human glioma. Previous research indicated that saw palmetto extract markedly inhibited the proliferation of human glioma cells through STAT3 signal pathway. But its effect on tumor metastasis and antiangiogenesis is not clear. This study is to further clear the impact of saw palmetto extract on glioma cell metastasis, antiangiogenesis, and its mechanism. TUNEL assay indicated that the apoptotic cells in the saw palmetto treated group are higher than that in the control group (p < 0.05). The apoptosis related protein is detected and the results revealed that saw palmetto extract inhibits the proliferation of human glioma. Meanwhile pSTAT3 is lower in the experimental group and CD34 is also inhibited in the saw palmetto treated group. This means that saw palmetto extract could inhibit the angiogenesis in glioma. We found that saw palmetto extract was an important phytotherapeutic drug against the human glioma through STAT3 signal pathway. Saw palmetto extract may be useful as an adjunctive therapeutic agent for treatment of individuals with glioma and other types of cancer in which STAT3 signaling is activated.
Highlights
Human gliomas which originate from neural stromal cells are the most common and malignant brain tumor in human [1]
The present study has proven that there is a close relationship between STAT3 and cell adhesion molecules, extracellular matrix degrading enzymes, tumor angiogenesis, metastasis through metal matrix protease (MMPs), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and other related gene interactions [5,6,7]
Studies have focused on chemical compounds which derived from plants that possess pharmacological activity in antitumor therapy [10, 11]
Summary
Human gliomas which originate from neural stromal cells are the most common and malignant brain tumor in human [1]. Human gliomas account for 35.26–60.96% of central nervous system tumors (average, 44.69%). The incidence rate in adults is about 6/100,000 and the five-year survival rate is between 20 and 30% [2]. Due to the tumor’s infiltrating growth and no evident boundary with the normal brain tissue, it is difficult to be removed completely via surgery. Gliomas are not susceptible to radiotherapy or chemotherapy, which makes it the worst prognoses in systemic tumors [3]. It is urgently needed to identify the critical carcinogenic pathways and discover novel treatment strategies for glioma
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