All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) is a differentiating agent for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). However, the therapeutic efficacy of ATRA has limitations. Tetrandrine is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb extract with antitumor effects. In this study, we investigated the effects of tetrandrine on human PML-RARα-positive acute promyelocytic leukemia cells. Tetrandrine inhibited tumors in vivo. It induced autophagy and differentiation by triggering ROS generation and activating Notch1 signaling. Tetrandrine induced autophagy and differentiation in M5 type patient primary leukemia cells. The in vivo results indicated that low concentrations of tetrandrine inhibited leukemia cells proliferation and induced autophagy and then facilitated their differentiation, by activating ROS and Notch1 signaling. We suggest that tetrandrine is a potential agent for the treatment of APL by inducing differentiation of leukemia cells.

Tetrandrine, a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid, is known to inhibit tumor cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in cancer models in vitro and in vivo. In the present study, tetrandrine significantly inhibited the proliferation of mouse endothelial cells (EOMA cell) and induced G1/S arrest in EOMA cells, in which the expressions of cyclin D and cyclin E and CDKs were downregulated. Tetrandrine treatment also caused intracellular accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Pretreatment with NAC, which is a ROS inhibitor, blocked G1/S cell arrest and cyclin regulation induced by tetrandrine, implying that ROS generation plays an important role in tetrandrine-induced cell cycle arrest. Furthermore, a decreased phospho-Akt protein level after tetrandrine treatment was reversible with the removal of the intracellular ROS by NAC. Notably, overexpression of Akt decreased tetrandrineinduced G1/S arrest. Finally, we verified the antiangiogenic effects of tetrandrine in vivo in a liver cancer xenograft model in nude mice. In conclusion, tetrandrine inhibits EOMA cell growth through the ROS/Akt pathway, and it could be a promising compound for cancer therapy as an inhibitor of tumor vascular growth.

TEF3-1 (transcriptional enhancer factor 3 isoform 1), also known as TEAD4 (TEA domain family member 4), was recently revealed as an oncogenic character in cancer development. However, the underlying molecular pathogenic mechanisms remain undefined. In this paper, we investigated nuclear TEF3-1 could promote G1/S transition in HUVECs, and the expression levels of cyclins and CDKs were upregulated. Additionally, if TEF3-1 was knocked down, the expression of cyclins and CDKs was downregulated while the expression of P21, a negative regulator of the cell cycle, was upregulated. A microarray analysis also confirmed that TEF3-1 overexpression upregulates genes that are related to cell cycle progression and the promotion of angiogenesis. Moreover, we observed that nuclear TEF3-1 was highly expressed during the formation of vascular structures in gastric cancer (GC). Finally, tumor xenograft experiments indicated that, when TEF3-1 was knocked down, tumor growth and angiogenesis were also suppressed. Taken together, these results demonstrate for the first time that TEF3-1 localization to the nucleus stimulates the cell cycle progression in HUVECs and specifically contributes to tumor angiogenesis. Nuclear TEF3-1 in HUVECs may serve as an oncogenic biomarker, and the suppression of TEF3-1 may be a potential target in anti-tumor therapy.

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