Naringin inhibits colorectal cancer cell growth by repressing the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway

Abstract

In recent years, the incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) has increased and research into new treatment methods for CRC has become a hot topic. Naringin has an inhibitory effect on the PI3k/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in various tumor cell types and the effect of naringin is closely related to the occurrence and proliferation of tumor cells. The aim of this present study was to investigate whether naringin could inhibit the proliferation of CRC cells by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. This could provide a more mechanism-based treatment for CRC. MTT assays were used to detect the proliferation of CRC cells treated with various concentrations of naringin. The degree of apoptosis and the expression of apoptosis-related proteins (Bcl-2 and Bax) in CRC cells stimulated by naringin was detected using flow cytometry and western blot assays, respectively. The expression levels of PI3K/AKT/mTOR-related proteins [PI3K, AKT, mTOR, phosphorylated (p)-PI3K, p-AKT and p-mTOR] after naringin stimulation in CRC cells were detected using western blot assays. Naringin inhibited the proliferation of CRC cells in a dose-dependent manner. Naringin promoted the apoptosis of CRC cells and inhibited the activation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in a dose-dependent manner. The results demonstrated that naringin may be a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of CRC, which may inhibit the proliferation of CRC cells and induce apoptosis by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.

Therapeutic Effects of Naringin in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Network Pharmacology and Experimental Validation

“…mTOR is the key regulator of autophagy in cancer cells. Naringin promoted apoptosis of colorectal cancer by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT/ mTOR signaling pathway (Cheng et al, 2020). Naringin improves the function of HUVECs under high glucose stress through activation of the PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway to inhibit autophagy (Wang et al, 2020).…”

A Systematic Review of the Preventive and Therapeutic Effects of Naringin Against Human Malignancies

“…Studies show that naringin has antineoplastic activities and treatment with naringin can reduce proliferation, and viability, while also enhancing apoptosis in HT-29 colon adenocarcinoma ( Elansary et al, 2020 ) and CT26 colorectal cancer cell lines ( Zhou et al, 2018 ). Another study indicated that treatment of human colon tumor cell lines (HCT116 and SW620) with naringin suppressed the CRC cell viability and proliferation, and promoted apoptosis by suppressing the phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase-B (also known as Akt)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway ( Chidambara Murthy et al, 2012 ; Cheng et al, 2020 ). Naringin treatment also induced apoptosis in Colo 205 and Colo 320 human colon cancer cells ( Ugocsai et al, 2005 ).…”

Naringin induces apoptosis of gastric carcinoma cells via blocking the PI3K/AKT pathway and activating pro‑death autophagy

“…Previous studies have identified anti-cancer drugs inducing apoptosis by blocking the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway (41,42). In colorectal cancer, Nar inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis via blocking the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway (15). By targeting this pathway, Nar inhibits the proliferation of thyroid cancer cells and induces apoptosis (43).…”

“…then inhibiting cancer cell proliferation and inducing cancer cell apoptosis (12)(13)(14). Nar can induce apoptosis and inhibit cancer cell growth in colorectal cancer, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, liver cancer and other types of cancer (15)(16)(17)(18). However, the effect of Nar on gastric cancer SNU-1 cells and its mechanism remain unclear.…”