title: PI3-kinase inhibition synergistically promoted the anti-tumor effect of lupeol in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lup-20(29)-en-3H-ol (Lupeol), a dietary triterpene, has been shown to possess multiple pharmacological activities including anti-tumor effects
  
  
  METHODS
  In the current study, we noted that low doses of lupeol (<40 μM) promoted the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells with a significant activation of the PI3-kinase/Akt signaling pathway. We further investigated the combined anti-tumor effect of lupeol and S14161, a newly identified PI3-Kinase inhibitor in vitro and in vivo
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results demonstrated that lupeol and S14161 could exert a synergistic antitumor effect resulting in chemo-sensitization of HCC to low doses of lupeol. Using an in vivo HCC model, we further demonstrated that lupeol and S14161 synergistically inhibited tumor growth without any adverse effects on body weight
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our studies showed that the activation of PI3-kinase/Akt pathway resulted in the tumor-promoting effect with low doses of lupeol. Combining PI3-kinase inhibitor with lupeol could synergistically augment the anti-tumor effect of lupeol and might be an applicable strategy for HCC therapy.
authors.forename: Fen
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Lijun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Yongming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Lixiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yunsen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xinliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Tumor Immunology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Infection and Immunity, Institutes of Biology and Medical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, P, R, China. hliu@suda.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu