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Magnolol Inhibits Tumor Necrosis Factor-α-Induced ICAM-1 Expression via Suppressing NF-κB And MAPK Signaling Pathways in Human Lung Epithelial Cells

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Abstract

Magnolol is a traditional Chinese medicine from the root and bark of Magnolia officinalis. It has long been used to treat anxiety, cough, headache and allergies, as well as a variety of inflammations. Lung inflammation is a key event in the pathogenesis of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The present study sought to examine the effects of magnolol on tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α-induced upregulation of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), activation of the nuclear factor (NF)-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway in cultured human pulmonary epithelial cells, and adhesion of human macrophage-like U937 cells to A549 cells. A549 cells were incubated with magnolol at 25 and 50 μmol/l. Then, 20 ng/ml TNF-α was used to activate the cells. Magnolol inhibited the growth of human pulmonary epithelial A549 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Magnolol suppressed the adhesion of U937 cells to TNF-α-induced A549 cells. In cultured human pulmonary epithelial A549 cells, magnolol decreased TNF-α-induced upregulation of ICAM-1. Magnolol repressed TNF-α-induced activation of NF-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways in A549 cells by inhibiting phosphorylation of NF-κB, p38, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, and stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK)/c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). These findings support the hypothesis that magnolol inhibits the inflammatory process in lung epithelial A549 cells by suppressing the ICAM-1 and NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways. Taken together, these results indicate that magnolol offers significant potential as a therapeutic treatment for inflammatory diseases of the lungs including asthma, sepsis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81272433) and grant from the Tongji University 985 Project (No. 129182), major training project of Sichuan Provincial Department of Education (13CZ0029), State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Eco-Environments and Bio-Resources of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region (SKL-2011-05), and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2013 M540391).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Translational Research, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, 507 Zhengmin Road, 200433, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Wu Chunlian, Wang Heyong, Chen Xi & Liu Gentao

  2. School of Life Science, China West Normal University, Nanchong, 637009, Sichuang Province, People’s Republic of China

    Wu Chunlian, Xu Jia & Huang Jie

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  1. Wu Chunlian
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Correspondence to Liu Gentao.

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Wu Chunlian and Wang Heyong contributed equally to this work.

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Chunlian, W., Heyong, W., Jia, X. et al. Magnolol Inhibits Tumor Necrosis Factor-α-Induced ICAM-1 Expression via Suppressing NF-κB And MAPK Signaling Pathways in Human Lung Epithelial Cells. Inflammation 37, 1957–1967 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10753-014-9928-8

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