Abstract

The 20S ginsenoside Rh2 (G-Rh2) effectively inhibits cancer cell growth and survival in both animal models and cell lines. However, its molecular targets and mechanism of action remain largely unknown. By screening for molecules that interact with (20S)G-Rh2 in a phage display assay, we have identified Annexin A2 as a potential target that mediates its anti-cancer activity. Isothermal titration calorimetry and a cellular thermal shift assay demonstrated that (20S)G-Rh2 directly bound to either recombinant or intracellular Annexin A2. This binding inhibited the interaction between Annexin A2 and the NF-кB p50 subunit, which attenuated the nuclear translocations of NF-кB p50 subunit and reduced the transactivation activity of NF-кB. Correspond to this result, (20S)G-Rh2 treatment significantly down-regulated the expression of IAPs (inhibitors of apoptosis), the well-established NF-кB targets that promote cell survival. Moreover, (20S)G-Rh2 synergized with Annexin A2 inactivation to promote apoptosis. Taken together, this study for the first time suggests a cellular target and a molecular pathway by which (20S)G-Rh2 inhibits cancer cell growth. As over-expression of Annexin A2 was evident in human hepatoma, (20S)G-Rh2 might be a promising natural compound for targeted liver cancer therapy.

Highlights

  • Ginseng has been a famous medicinal herb in eastern Asia for over a thousand years, due to its extraordinary efficacy on nourishment, restoration, and disease prevention

  • We demonstrated for the first time that (20S)ginsenoside Rh2 (G-Rh2) directly binds to Annexin A2, which interfered the interaction between Annexin A2 and NF-кB p50 subunit, and down-regulated NF-кB activation and anti-apoptosis gene expression, promoted apoptosis in cancer cells

  • The results showed that the survival rate of Annexin A2-knockdown cells was obviously lower than that of control cells with (20S)G-Rh2 treatment (Fig. 4c, Table 2)

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Summary

Introduction

Ginseng has been a famous medicinal herb in eastern Asia for over a thousand years, due to its extraordinary efficacy on nourishment, restoration, and disease prevention. We demonstrated for the first time that (20S)G-Rh2 directly binds to Annexin A2, which interfered the interaction between Annexin A2 and NF-кB p50 subunit, and down-regulated NF-кB activation and anti-apoptosis gene expression, promoted apoptosis in cancer cells. To examine whether (20S)G-Rh2 can interact with intracellular Annexin A2, we performed cellular thermal shift assays in HepG2 cells.

Results
Conclusion

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