title: Asperosaponin VI promotes progesterone receptor expression in decidual cells via the notch signaling pathway.
abstract: Recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) is a common clinical condition, but its reasons remain unknown in 37-79% of the affected women. The steroid hormone progesterone (P4) is an integral mediator of early pregnancy events, exerting its effects via the progesterone receptor (PR). Dipsaci Radix (DR) has long been used for treating gynecological diseases in Chinese medicine, while its molecular mechanisms and active ingredients are still unclear. We report here the progesterone-like effects of the alcohol extraction and Asperosaponin VI from DR in primary decidual cells and HeLa cell line. We first determined the safe concentration of Asperosaponin VI in the cells with MTT assay and then found by using dual luciferase reporter and Western blotting that Asperosaponin VI significantly increased PR expression. Moreover, we explored the mechanisms of action of the DR extracts and Asperosaponin VI, and the results showed that they could activate Notch signaling, suggesting that they may function by promoting decidualization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Medical Immunopharmacology Research Center, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yadi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Feixia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Haiwang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Lilin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Weiyu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Weixian
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Anorectal, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Dandan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Science, Center for Cancer Research and State Key Lab for Molecular Neural Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Haibin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Science, Center for Cancer Research and State Key Lab for Molecular Neural Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: songpingluo@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Songping
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D003656:Decidua / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D049917:Dipsacaceae / Q000737:chemistry; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry; D011247:Pregnancy; D061251:Primary Cell Culture; D051880:Receptors, Notch / Q000378:metabolism*; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D012503:Saponins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D051880:Receptors, Notch; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; D012503:Saponins; C534004:akebia saponin D
keywords: Asperosaponin VI; Dipsaci Radix; Notch signaling; Progesterone receptor; Spontaneous abortion