Herpes zoster mRNA vaccine induces superior vaccine immunity over licensed vaccine in mice and rhesus macaques.

Herpes zoster remains an important global health issue and mainly occurs in aged and immunocompromised individuals with an early exposure history to Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV). Although the licensed vaccine Shingrix has remarkably high efficacy, undesired reactogenicity and increasing global demand causing vaccine shortage urged the development of improved or novel VZV vaccines. In this study, we developed a novel VZV mRNA vaccine candidate (named as ZOSAL) containing sequence-optimized mRNAs encoding full-length glycoprotein E encapsulated in an ionizable lipid nanoparticle.

Selective anti-tumor activity of wogonin targeting the Warburg effect through stablizing p53.

Most cancer cells generate energy through aerobic glycolysis to enable their rapid growth and proliferation, which is a phenomenon known as Warburg effect. Inhibition of aerobic glycolysis reduces lactate and ATP generation in cancer cells, and ultimately kills tumor cells. Increasing evidence suggests that wogonin, a flavonoid isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, exhibits potent anti-tumor effects in vivo and in vitro.

Oroxylin A regulates glucose metabolism in response to hypoxic stress with the involvement of Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 in human hepatoma HepG2 cells.

Metabolic alteration in cancer cells is one of the most conspicuous characteristics that distinguish cancer cells from normal cells. In this study, we investigated the influence and signaling ways of oroxylin A affecting cancer cell energy metabolism under hypoxia. The data showed that oroxylin A remarkably reduced the generation of lactate and glucose uptake under hypoxia in HepG2 cells.

III-10, a newly synthesized flavonoid, induces cell apoptosis with the involvement of reactive oxygen species-mitochondria pathway in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Study of the mechanisms of apoptosis in tumor cells is an important field of tumor therapy and cancer molecular biology. We recently established that III-10, a new flavonoid with a pyrrolidinyl and a benzyl group substitution, exerted its anti-tumor effect via inducing differentiation of human U937 leukemia cells. In this study, we demonstrated that III-10 induced cell apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Aspafilioside B induces G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis by up-regulating H-Ras and N-Ras via ERK and p38 MAPK signaling pathways in human hepatoma HepG2 cells.

We recently establish that aspafilioside B, a steroidal saponin extracted from Asparagus filicinus, is an active cytotoxic component. However, its antitumor activity is till unknown. In this study, the anticancer effect of aspafilioside B against HCC cells and the underlying mechanisms were investigated.

FV-429 Induced Apoptosis Through ROS-Mediated ERK2 Nuclear Translocation and p53 Activation in Gastric Cancer Cells.

Following our previous finding which revealed that FV-429 induces apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells, in this study, we found that FV-429 could also induce apoptosis in human gastric cancer cells. Firstly, FV-429 inhibited the viability of BGC-823 and MGC-803 cells with IC50 values in the range of 38.10 ± 6.

UCP2-related mitochondrial pathway participates in oroxylin A-induced apoptosis in human colon cancer cells.

Oroxylin A is a flavonoid extracted from the root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi. Our previous research demonstrated that oroxylin A have various anti-tumor effects including apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, drug-resistant reversion, and others. This paper explores the mechanism how oroxylin A induce apoptosis by regulating uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) in human colon cancer cells.

Wogonin suppresses melanoma cell B16-F10 invasion and migration by inhibiting Ras-medicated pathways.

The patients diagnosed with melanoma have a bad prognosis for early regional invasion and distant metastases. Wogonin (5,7-dihydroxy-8-methoxyflavone) is one of the active components of flavonoids that extracts from Scutellariae radix. Several previous studies reported that wogonin possesses antitumor effect against leukemia, gastrointestinal cancer and breast cancer.

Oroxylin A inhibits ATRA-induced IL-6 expression involved in retinoic acid syndrome by down-regulating CHOP.

Production of IL-6 constituted the major cause of death in the ATRA trial called retinoic acid syndrome (RAS). LAP and LIP are active and inactive isoforms of C/EBPβ, respectively. Inactive LIP dimerized with LAP to eliminate its activity.

LL-202, a newly synthesized flavonoid, inhibits tumor growth via inducing G(2)/M phase arrest and cell apoptosis in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.

We recently established that LL-202, a newly synthesized flavonoid, exhibited obvious anticancer effects against human breast cells in vivo and in vitro. The underlying mechanism of its anticancer activity remains to be elucidated. In this study, we demonstrated that LL-202 inhibited the growth and proliferation of human breast cancer MCF-7 cells in a concentration and time-dependent manner.

Oroxylin A inhibits hypoxia-induced invasion and migration of MCF-7 cells by suppressing the Notch pathway.

Tumor invasion and migration obstructs the treatment and prognosis of cancer. In this research, we investigated the effect of oroxylin A, a natural compound extracted from Scutellaria radix, the root of Scutellaria baicalensis, on inhibition of the invasion and migration of three different tumor cell lines: MCF-7, DU145, and HepG2. The results suggested that oroxylin A could inhibit hypoxia-induced migration and invasion of the three cell lines mentioned above.

Wogonin induced G1 cell cycle arrest by regulating Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and inactivating CDK8 in human colorectal cancer carcinoma cells.

Wogonin, a naturally occurring mono-flavonoid, has been reported to have tumor therapeutic potential and good selectivity both in vitro and in vivo. Herein, we investigated the anti-proliferation effects and associated mechanisms of wogonin in human colorectal cancer in vitro. The flow-cytometric analysis showed that wogonin induced a G1 phase cell cycle arrest in HCT116 cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner.

HQS-3, a newly synthesized flavonoid, possesses potent anti-tumor effect in vivo and in vitro.

HQS-3 is a newly baicalein derivative with a benzene substitution. We investigated the anticancer effect of HQS-3 in vivo and in vitro. HQS-3 significantly decreased tumor growth in mice inoculated with Heps and HepG2 cells; and had little influence on the state and weight of animals.

Two p53-related metabolic regulators, TIGAR and SCO2, contribute to oroxylin A-mediated glucose metabolism in human hepatoma HepG2 cells.

Metabolic alteration in cancer cells is one of the most conspicuous characteristics that distinguish cancer cells from normal cells. Many studies suggest that several underlying mechanisms lead to the Warburg effect (increased aerobic glycolysis) during cancer development. Here, we explored how oroxylin A affected the glycolytic metabolism in cancer cells and the underlying mechanism involved in this process.

Oroxylin A sensitizes non-small cell lung cancer cells to anoikis via glucose-deprivation-like mechanisms: c-Src and hexokinase II.

Background: Cellular metabolism, particularly glycolysis, is altered during the metastatic process and is highly associated with tumor progression and apoptosis resistance. Oroxylin A, a natural plant flavonoid, exhibits chemopreventive and therapeutic anti-inflammatory and anticancer potential. However, the anticancer effects of oroxylin A on non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) remain poorly understood.

Wogonin induced cytotoxicity in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells by activation of unfolded protein response and inactivation of AKT.

Aim: To investigate the potential anticancer effects of the natural flavonoid wogonin on human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells and tumor xenografts and the contribution of the unfolded protein response (UPR) and AKT pathways to the cytotoxicity of wogonin.

Methods: The HCC cell lines HepG2, SMMC-7721 and Hep3B were treated with wogonin. 3-(4 5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assays were used to evaluate the cell viability.

Wogonin inhibits H2O2-induced vascular permeability through suppressing the phosphorylation of caveolin-1.

Wogonin, a naturally occurring monoflavonoid extracted from the root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, has been reported for its anti-oxidant activity. However, it is still unclear whether wogonin can inhibit oxidant-induced vascular permeability. In this study, we evaluated the effects of wogonin on H2O2-induced vascular permeability in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).

Gambogic acid promotes apoptosis and resistance to metastatic potential in MDA-MB-231 human breast carcinoma cells.

Gambogic acid (GA) is considered a potent anti-tumor agent for its multiple effects on cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Low concentrations of GA (0.3-1.

Activation of the unfolded protein response contributed to the selective cytotoxicity of oroxylin A in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a refractory malignancy with a high incidence and large mortality. Current strategy for the chemotherapy of HCC focuses on developing agents with better efficacy and lower toxicity. In this study, we demonstrated that the natural flavonoid oroxylin A preferentially inhibited the viability of HCC cell line HepG2 but not the normal hepatic cell line L02.

VI-16, a newly synthesized flavonoid, induces apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway in human hepatoma cells.

VI-16, a newly synthesized flavonoid, has a hydroxy substitution at C5 position, a methoxyl substitution at C5 position, and a piperazine substitution at C7 position. Here, we firstly investigated the potential antitumor effect of VI-16 in HepG2 human hepatocarcinoma cells. The MTT assay showed that VI-16 inhibited HepG2 cell growth in a concentration- and time-dependent manner.

GL-V9, a newly synthetic flavonoid derivative, induces mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis and G2/M cell cycle arrest in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells.

We recently established that GL-V9, a newly synthetic flavonoid derivative, is an active cytotoxic component. In this study, we demonstrated that GL-V9 inhibited cells growth via inducing apoptosis and G2/M cell cycle arrest in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells. Following the treatment of HepG2 cells with GL-V9, we observed poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage and activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9, while caspase-8 remained unchanged.