Pristimerin, a Triterpenoid, Inhibits Tumor Angiogenesis by Targeting VEGFR2 Activation
1
Jiangsu Center for Drug Screening, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, Jiangsu, China
2
The Secondary Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210011, Jiangsu, China
3
Department of New Drug Screening, Jiangsu Chia-tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Nanjing 210042, Jiangsu, China
4
Key Laboratory of Drug Quality Control and Pharmacovigilance, Ministry of Education, Nanjing 210009, Jiangsu, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Molecules 2012, 17(6), 6854-6868; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules17066854
Received: 9 April 2012
/
Revised: 11 May 2012
/
Accepted: 15 May 2012
/
Published: 5 June 2012
(This article belongs to the Section Natural Products Chemistry)
Pristimerin is a triterpenoid isolated from Celastrus and Maytenus spp. that has been shown to possess a variety of biological activities, including anti-cancer activity. However, little is known about pristimerin’s effects on tumor angiogenesis. In this study, we examined the function and the mechanism of this compound in tumor angiogenesis using multiple angiogenesis assays. We found that pristimerin significantly reduced both the volume and weight of solid tumors and decreased angiogenesis in a xenograft mouse tumor model in vivo. Pristimerin significantly inhibited the neovascularization of chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) in vivo and abrogated vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced microvessel sprouting in an ex vivo rat aortic ring assay. Furthermore, pristimerin inhibited the VEGF-induced proliferation, migration and capillary-like structure formation of human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs) in a concentration-dependent manner. Mechanistic studies revealed that pristimerin suppressed the VEGF-induced phosphorylation of VEGF receptor 2 kinase (KDR/Flk-1) and the activity of AKT, ERK1/2, mTOR, and ribosomal protein S6 kinase. Taken together, our results provide evidence for the first time that pristimerin potently suppresses angiogenesis by targeting VEGFR2 activation. These results provide a novel mechanism of action for pristimerin which may be important in the treatment of cancer.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
pristimerin; angiogenesis; cancer; KDR/Flk-1; AKT/mTOR
▼
Show Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License
MDPI and ACS Style
Mu, X.; Shi, W.; Sun, L.; Li, H.; Jiang, Z.; Zhang, L. Pristimerin, a Triterpenoid, Inhibits Tumor Angiogenesis by Targeting VEGFR2 Activation. Molecules 2012, 17, 6854-6868. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules17066854
AMA Style
Mu X, Shi W, Sun L, Li H, Jiang Z, Zhang L. Pristimerin, a Triterpenoid, Inhibits Tumor Angiogenesis by Targeting VEGFR2 Activation. Molecules. 2012; 17(6):6854-6868. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules17066854
Chicago/Turabian StyleMu, Xianmin, Wei Shi, Lixin Sun, Han Li, Zhenzhou Jiang, and Luyong Zhang. 2012. "Pristimerin, a Triterpenoid, Inhibits Tumor Angiogenesis by Targeting VEGFR2 Activation" Molecules 17, no. 6: 6854-6868. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules17066854
Find Other Styles
