title: Fo shou san, an ancient herbal decoction prepared from angelicae sinensis radix and chuanxiong rhizoma, induces erythropoietin expression: a signaling mediated by the reduced degradation of hypoxia-inducible factor in cultured liver cells.
abstract: Fo Shou San (FSS) is an ancient herbal decoction composed of Angelicae Sinensis Radix (ASR; Danggui) and Chuanxiong Rhizoma (CR; Chuanxiong) in a ratio of 3:2. FSS is mainly prescribed for patients having a deficiency of blood supply, and it indeed has been shown to stimulate the production of erythropoietin (EPO) in cultured cells. In order to reveal the mechanism of this FSS-induced EPO gene expression, the upstream regulatory cascade, via hypoxia-induced signaling, was revealed here in cultured hepatocellular carcinoma cell line Hep3B. The induction of EPO gene expression, triggered by FSS, was revealed in cultured hepatocytes by: (i) the increase of EPO mRNA; and (ii) the activation of the hypoxia response element (HRE), an upstream regulator of the EPO gene. The FSS-induced EPO gene expression was triggered by an increased expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 α (HIF-1 α) protein; however, the mRNA expression of HIF-1 α was not altered by the treatment of FSS. The increased HIF-1 α was a result of reduced protein degradation after the FSS treatment. The current results therefore provide one of the molecular mechanisms of this ancient herbal decoction for its hematopoietic function.
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Science and Center for Chinese Medicine, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Cathy W C
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Wendy L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Janis Y X
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Ken Y Z
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Vicky P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: David T W
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Roy C Y
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Tie J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tina T X
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Karl W K
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Tsim
mesh_terms: D029969:Angelica; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D051793:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D030004:Ligusticum; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D027343:Rhizome; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D051793:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C555978:fo shou san; D004921:Erythropoietin