title: Deguelin-induced blockade of PI3K/protein kinase B/MAP kinase signaling in zebrafish and breast cancer cell lines is mediated by down-regulation of fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 activity.
abstract: Deguelin, a natural component derived from leguminous plants, has been used as pesticide in some regions. Accumulating evidence show that deguelin has promising chemopreventive and therapeutic activities against cancer cells. This study shows that low concentrations of deguelin can lead to significant delay in zebrafish embryonic development through growth inhibition and induction of apoptosis. Furthermore, we identified fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) as the putative target of deguelin. The candidate was initially identified by a microarray approach and then validated through in vitro experiments using hormone-responsive (MCF-7) and nonresponsive (MDA-MB-231) human breast cancer cell lines. The results show that deguelin suppressed cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in both cancer cell lines, but not in Hs 578Bst cells, by blocking PI3K/AKT and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) signaling. The FGFR4 mRNA and protein level also diminished in a dose-dependent manner. Interestingly, we found that forced FGFR4 overexpression attenuated deguelin-induced proliferative suppression and apoptotic cell death in both zebrafish and MCF-7 cell lines, p-AKT and p-ERK levels were restored upon FGFR4 overexpression. Taken together, our results strongly suggest that deguelin inhibition of PI3K/AKT and MAPK signaling in zebrafish and breast cancer cell lines is partially mediated through down-regulation of FGFR4 activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy Guangzhou Liu Hua Qiao Hospital 111 Liuhua Road Guangzhou Guangdong 510010 China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy Guangzhou Liu Hua Qiao Hospital 111 Liuhua Road Guangzhou Guangdong 510010 China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hai
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School Shenzhen Guangdong 518055 China.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy Guangzhou Liu Hua Qiao Hospital 111 Liuhua Road Guangzhou Guangdong 510010 China.
authors.forename: Rui-Jin
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School Shenzhen Guangdong 518055 China.
authors.forename: Yu-Xiang
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy Guangzhou Liu Hua Qiao Hospital 111 Liuhua Road Guangzhou Guangdong 510010 China.
authors.forename: Wen-Hao
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School Shenzhen Guangdong 518055 China.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School Shenzhen Guangdong 518055 China; Department of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology University of California Los Angeles California 90095 USA.
authors.forename: Shuo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy Guangzhou Liu Hua Qiao Hospital 111 Liuhua Road Guangzhou Guangdong 510010 China.
authors.forename: Xin-Rong
authors.initials: XR
authors.lastname: Wu
keywords: Breast cancer; FGFR4; deguelin; zebrafish