• Toxicological Research
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.11-16
• /
• 2015

Our body's immune system has defense mechanisms against pathogens such as viruses and bacteria. Immune responses are primarily initiated by the activation of toll-like receptors (TLRs). In particular, TLR4 is well-characterized and is known to be activated by gram-negative bacteria and tissue damage signals. TLR4 requires myeloid differentiation factor 2 (MD2) as a co-receptor to recognize its ligand, lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which is an extracellular membrane component of gram-negative bacteria. Gambogic acid is a xanthonoid isolated from brownish or orange resin extracted from Garcinia hanburyi. Its primary effect is tumor suppression. Since inflammatory responses are related to the development of cancer, we hypothesized that gambogic acid may regulate TLR4 activation. Our results demonstrated that gambogic acid decreased the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines ($TNF-{\alpha}$, IL-6, IL-12, and $IL-1{\beta}$) in both mRNA and protein levels in bone marrow-derived primary macrophages after stimulation with LPS. Gambogic acid did not inhibit the activation of Interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) induced by TBK1 overexpression in a luciferase reporter gene assay using IFN-${\beta}$-PRD III-I-luc. An in vitro kinase assay using recombinant TBK1 revealed that gambogic acid did not directly inhibit TBK1 kinase activity, and instead suppressed the binding of LPS to MD2, as determined by an in vitro binding assay and confocal microscopy analysis. Together, our results demonstrate that gambogic acid disrupts LPS interaction with the TLR4/MD2 complex, the novel mechanism by which it suppresses TLR4 activation.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.12
• /
• pp.6211-6216
• /
• 2012

Objective: To investigate the effects of gambogic acid (GA) on the growth of human malignant glioma cells. Methods: U251MG and U87MG human glioma cell lines were treated with GA and growth and proliferation were investigated by MTT and colony formation assays. Cell apoptosis was analyzed by annexin V FITC/PI flow cytometry, mitochondrial membrane potential assays and DAPI nuclear staining. Monodansylcadaverine (MDC) staining and GFP-LC3 localisation were used to detect autophagy. Western blotting was used to investigate the molecular changes that occurred in the course of GA treatment. Results: GA treatment significantly suppressed cell proliferation and colony formation, induced apoptosis in U251 and U87MG glioblastoma cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. GA treatment also lead to the accumulation of monodansylcadaverine (MDC) in autophagic vacuoles, upregulated expressions of Atg5, Beclin 1 and LC3-II, and the increase of punctate fluorescent signals in glioblastoma cells pre-transfected with GFP-tagged LC3 plasmid. After the combination treatment of autophagy inhitors and GA, GA mediated growth inhibition and apoptotic cell death was further potentiated. Conclusion: Our results suggested that autophagic responses play roles as a self-protective mechanism in GA-treated glioblastoma cells, and autophagy inhibition could be a novel adjunctive strategy for enhancing chemotherapeutic effect of GA as an anti-malignant glioma agent.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.12
• /
• pp.6463-6468
• /
• 2012

Purpose: To evaluated the effect of the gambogic acid (GA), one of the effective components of Garcinia, in combination with a new multi-targeted oral medication, sunitinib (SU) on renal cancer cell proliferation in vitro and on tumor growth in vivo. Methods: After treatment with GA or SU, either alone or in combination, MTT and FACS analysis were used to examine cell viability and cycle distribution of the renal carcinoma cell lines 786-0 and Caki-1. Western blotting was employed to examine the expression of proteins related to the cell cycle and vascular formation. Furthermore, a xenograft model was applied to study the antitumor efficacy of SU or GA alone or in combination, with immunohistochemistry to detect expression of proteins related to xenograft growth and angiogenesis. Western blotting was used to examine NF-${\kappa}B$ signaling pathway elements in xenografts. Results: Treatment of 786-0 and Caki-1 cells with GA or SU resulted in decreased tumor cell proliferation, especially with joint use. Cells accumulated more strongly in the sub-G1 phase after joint treatment with GA and SU than treatment of GA and SU alone. Western blotting arrays showed 1 protein significantly upregulated, 2 proteins downregulated, and 2 proteins unchanged. Moreover, combined use of GA and SU inhibited the growth and angiogenesis of xenografts generated from Caki-1 significantly. Immunohistochemistry arrays showed downregulation of the expression of proteins promoting xenograft growth and angiogenesis, and Western blotting showed inhibition of the NF-${\kappa}B$ signaling pathway after treatment by GA alone and in combination with SU in xenografts. Conclusions: Our results show that the joint use of GA and SU can provide greater antitumor efficacy compared to either drug alone and thus may offer a new treatment strategy for renal cell carcinoma.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
• /
• v.44 no.3
• /
• pp.209-219
• /
• 2013

Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is a molecular chaperone that assists protein folding and contributes to the stability of various proteins. It also stabilizes a number of proteins involved in tumor growth to consider it as a promising target for the treatment of cancer. Natural products have been a rich source of agents of value in medicine, therefore discovering lead compounds from them is one of important strategy in the drug development. In this regard, geldanamycin, radicicol, novobiocin and celastrol have been utilized as leads for the development of Hsp90 inhibitory anticancer agents. This review summerizes recent findings of natural products as Hsp90 inhibitiors. The Hsp90 inhibitory activities, mode of actions on Hsp90 and cytotoxicities on human cancer cell lines of natural products including bulgarialactone B, curcumin, (-)-gambogic acid, quercetin, sansalvamide A, silybin, and withaferin A were discussed.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.511-518
• /
• 2022

Sepsis-associated myocardial injury, an invertible myocardial depression, is a common complication of sepsis. Neogambogic acid is an active compound in garcinia and exerts anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification properties. The role of neogambogic acid in sepsis-associated myocardial injury was assessed. Firstly, mice were pretreated with neogambogic acid and then subjected to lipopolysaccharide treatment to induce sepsis. Results showed that lipopolysaccharide treatment induced up-regulation of biomarkers involved in cardiac injury, including lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), and troponin I (cTnI). However, pretreatment with neogambogic acid reduced levels of LDH, CK-MB, and cTnI, and ameliorated histopathological changes in the heart tissues of septic mice. Secondly, neogambogic acid also improved cardiac function in septic mice through reduction in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, and enhancement of ejection fraction, fractional shortening, and left ventricular systolic mean pressure. Moreover, neogambogic acid suppressed cardiac apoptosis and inflammation in septic mice and reduced cardiac fibrosis. Lastly, protein expression of p-p38, p-JNK, and p-NF-κB in septic mice was decreased by neogambogic acid. In conclusion, neogambogic acid exerted anti-apoptotic, anti-fibrotic, and anti-inflammatory effects in septic mice through the inactivation of MAPK/NF-κB pathway.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.62 no.1
• /
• pp.81-86
• /
• 2019

A yellow resin (gamboge) from Garcinia hanburyi has been widely used as folk medicine due to its antibacterial and antitumor activities. We isolated four ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory compounds from the methanol extract of gamboge. The compounds (1-4) were identified as gambogoic acid (1), moreollic acid (2), gambogic acid (3), and 10-methoxygambogenic acid (4), respectively through spectroscopic data including 2D-NMR and HREIMS. All compounds were examined in the enzyme inhibition assay against ${\alpha}$-glucosidase to identify their inhibitory potencies and kinetic behavior. All compounds (1-4) showed enzyme inhibition against ${\alpha}$-glucosidase, but the activity was significantly affected by the methoxy group on C-10 of ring A and pentenyl pyran moiety of ring D. For example, compound 1 ($IC_{50}=41.4{\mu}M$) bearing pyran ring eight times effective that 4 ($IC_{50}=350.6{\mu}M$) having geranyl group itself. Most active compound was found out to be gambogoic acid (1) which was analyzed most abundant metabolite in gamboge by LC-ESI-MS/MS. In kinetic study, compounds 1 and 2 were proved as noncompetitive inhibitors.