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Paeonol inhibits proliferation and induces cell apoptosis of human T24 and 5637 bladder cancer cells in vitro and in vivo

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Abstract

Purpose

Paeonol is a natural chemical medicine derived from the bark of peony root, which has been found to inhibit tumor activity in various tumor cell lines, and can play a synergistic anti-tumor effect with chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

Methods

We used paeonol to act on human bladder cancer T24 and 5637 cells, and established xenograft tumor in nude mice by subcutaneous injection of T24 cells.

Results

CCK-8 assay and plate cloning experiments showed that paeonol could inhibit the proliferation of T24 and 5637 cells in vitro. The results of flow cytometry and the detection of BAX, Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 proteins suggested that paeonol can induce apoptosis of T24 and 5637 cells in vitro. Tumor formation, TUNEL detection and immunohistochemical results of Ki67, BAX, Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 in nude mice showed that paeonol could inhibit T24 cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in vivo, thus inhibiting tumor growth. Further research revealed that paeonol could reduce phosphorylation expression of PI3K and AKT in T24 and 5637 cells.

Conclusion

We confirmed that paeonol could inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of human bladder cancer T24 and 5637 cells in vitro and in vivo, inhibit the growth of T24 tumor-forming nude mice, and possibly play a role by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, so as to provide a potential therapeutic drug for bladder cancer.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the medical innovation team of Jiangsu Province (CXTDA2017048), Suqian Sci&Tech Program (K201901) and the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (19KJB320008).

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Author notes

    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Urology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, No. 185 Juqian Street, TianNing District, Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China

      J. J. Zhang & C. H. Han

    2. Department of Urology, The Affiliated Suqian Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Suqian People’s Hospital of Nanjing Drum-Tower Hospital Group, No. 138, Huanghe South Road, Sucheng District, Suqian City, Jiangsu Province, China

      J. J. Zhang & L. J. Cai

    3. Jiangsu Normal University Kewen College, No. 101 Shanghai Road, Tongshan New District, Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China

      J. J. Zhang & L. J. Cai

    4. Department of Urology, Xuzhou Central Hospital, No. 199, Jiefang South Road, Quanshan District, Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China

      K. Pang, Y. Dong, Z. G. Zhang & C. H. Han

    5. Department of Urology, Taizhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, No. 86, Jichuan East Road, Hailing District, Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province, China

      B. B. Li

    6. Department of Central Laboratory, Xuzhou Central Hospital, No. 199, Jiefang South Road, Quanshan District, Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China

      R. Li

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    Contributions

    JJZ and LJC designed the study and drafted the manuscript. KP, YD and ZGZ were responsible for the collection and analysis of the experimental data. BL, RL and CHH revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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    Correspondence to C. H. Han.

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    The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

    Ethical approval

    The study was approved by Ethical Committee of the Animal Experiment Center of Xuzhou Medical University and conducted in accordance with the ethical standards. (Ethics number: xz2019100801L).

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    Yes.

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    J. J. Zhang and L.J. Cai contributed equally to this study.

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    Cite this article

    Zhang, J.J., Cai, L.J., Pang, K. et al. Paeonol inhibits proliferation and induces cell apoptosis of human T24 and 5637 bladder cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Clin Transl Oncol 23, 601–611 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12094-020-02455-y

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12094-020-02455-y

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