Artesunate inhibits proliferation and invasion of mouse hemangioendothelioma cells in?vitro and of tumor growth in?vivo

Abstract

Abstract. Artesunate has been demonstrated to be a novel potential antitumor agent in numerous studies. However, its efficacy in infantile hemangioma is unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of artesunate in the control of vascular tumor biological behavior and molecular mechanism using mouse hemangioendothelioma endothelial (EOMA) cells and a nude mouse model. Cell viability, apoptosis and invasion were determined by an MTT assay, flow cytometric analysis and Transwell invasion assay, respectively. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting were utilized to examine the expression of genes and proteins. Inoculated EOMA cells were injected into the subcutaneous tissues of nude mice to observe the effect of artesunate therapy on the vascular tumor, an effect that was similar to that of pingyangmycin (PYM). It was identified that artesunate treatment (0-600 µg/ml) inhibited cell growth in a time-and dose-dependent manner. Artesunate at 300 µg/ml significantly reduced the proliferation and invasion of EOMA cells, and significantly decreased the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A, VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2 and hypoxia inducible factor-1α over time; caspase-3 was simultaneously upregulated in vitro. Artesunate significantly inhibited tumor growth, and the curative effect was similar to that observed with PYM in vivo. It was concluded that artesunate could effectively inhibit the growth of vascular tumors, and thus could be a novel drug candidate for the treatment of infantile hemangioma.

Artesunate Inhibits Growth of Sunitinib-Resistant Renal Cell Carcinoma Cells through Cell Cycle Arrest and Induction of Ferroptosis

“…Several studies on non-urological tumor entities have also demonstrated growth inhibition after ART application. In hemangioendothelioma cells, ART time-and dose-dependently reduced tumor cell growth, concomitantly decreasing the expression of VEGF-A, VEGFR1, VEGFR2, and HIF-1α [46]. Thus, it has been postulated that ART may hold promise in treating vascular tumors, of which RCC is a member.…”

“…Thus, it has been postulated that ART may hold promise in treating vascular tumors, of which RCC is a member. Moreover, significant growth inhibition was observed in a mouse model of hemangioendothelioma carcinoma cells following ART treatment, with significantly reduced tumor size [46]. In different gastric cancer cell lines, ART exposure has also resulted in a significant growth reduction [51].…”

“…Moreover, artemisinin and its derivatives inhibit angiogenesis [42][43][44][45]. ART reduced the expression of angiogenic proteins in hemangioendothelioma cells, and thus has been postulated to be a therapeutic option for angiogenic cancers [46], including RCC. Indeed, ART exerted potent, selective cytotoxicity in therapy-sensitive RCC [47] and inhibited invasiveness in vitro and in vivo.…”

Apoptosis Inducing 1,3,4-Oxadiazole Conjugates of Capsaicin: Their In Vitro Antiproliferative and In Silico Studies

“…Our study demonstrated that treatment of compound 20a significantly reduced the mRNA expression levels of VEGFR2 as revealed by quantitative PCR (Figure ). This indicates a significant anticancer potential of compound 20a − (Figure ).…”

Roles of ferroptosis in urologic malignancies

“…Therefore, it is urgent to search for complementary therapeutic approaches to increase its effectiveness. Artesunate (ART) is a semi-synthetic derivative of artemisinin and has better anti-tumor activity than artemisinin via reducing the expression of angiogenic proteins [ 114 , 115 ]. Previous studies indicated that ART synergized with TKI sorafenib to induce ferroptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma and enhanced the anti-tumor effect of the TKI sorafenib [ 116 , 117 ].…”