Melanoma is an aggressive form of cancer with poor prognosis and survival rates and limited therapeutic options. Here, we report the anti-melanoma effect of 3-O-prenyl glycyrrhetinic acid (NPC-402), a derivative of glycyrrhtinic acid, from a reputed medicinal plant Glycyrrhiza glabra against B16F10 cells. We studied the cytotoxic effect of NPC-402 on melanoma cells and investigated the role of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, AKT axis, and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress/unfolded protein response (UPR)-mediated autophagy as the involved signaling cascade by studying specific marker proteins. In this study, 4-phenylbutyric acid (4PBA, a chemical chaperone) and small interference RNA (siRNA) knockdown of C/EBP Homologous Protein (CHOP)/growth arrest- and DNA damage-inducible gene 153(GAD153) blocked NPC-402-mediated autophagy induction, thus confirming the role of ER stress and autophagy in melanoma cell death. NPC-402 induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in melanoma cells, which were effectively mitigated by treatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC). In vivo studies showed that intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of NPC-402 at 10 mg/kg (5 days in 1 week) significantly retarded angiogenesis in the Matrigel plug assay and reduced the tumor size and tumor weight without causing any significant toxic manifestation in C57BL/6J mice. We conclude that NPC-402 has a high potential to be developed as a chemotherapeutic drug against melanoma.
黑色素瘤是一种侵袭性癌症,其预后和存活率较低,治疗方案有限。在此,我们报告了 3-O-异戊烯基甘草次酸(NPC-402)的抗黑色素瘤作用。3-O-异戊烯基甘草次酸是从一种著名的药用植物甘草中提取的甘草次酸衍生物,可用于 B16F10 细胞。我们研究了 NPC-402 对黑色素瘤细胞的细胞毒性作用,并通过研究特定的标记蛋白,探讨了丝裂原活化蛋白(MAP)激酶、AKT 轴和内质网(ER)应激/折叠蛋白反应(UPR)介导的自噬在相关信号级联中的作用。在这项研究中,4-苯基丁酸(4PBA,一种化学伴侣)和小干扰RNA(siRNA)敲除C/EBP同源蛋白(CHOP)/生长停滞和DNA损伤诱导基因153(GAD153)阻断了NPC-402介导的自噬诱导,从而证实了ER应激和自噬在黑色素瘤细胞死亡中的作用。NPC-402可诱导黑色素瘤细胞氧化应激和凋亡,而N-乙酰半胱氨酸(NAC)可有效缓解氧化应激和凋亡。体内研究表明,在C57BL/6J小鼠体内腹腔注射10毫克/千克(1周5天)NPC-402可显著延缓Matrigel塞实验中的血管生成,并缩小肿瘤大小和减轻肿瘤重量,而不会引起任何明显的毒性表现。我们的结论是,NPC-402 很有可能被开发成一种抗黑色素瘤的化疗药物。