title: The in Vitro and in Vivo Antitumor Activities of Tetracyclic Triterpenoids Compounds Actein and 26-Deoxyactein Isolated from Rhizome of Cimicifuga foetida L.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This work aims to study the in vitro and in vivo antitumor activities of tetracyclic triterpenoids compounds actein and 26-deoxyactein. Further, the mechanism is investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  In vitro, a modified MTT method was used to assay the cytotoxicities of actein and 26-deoxyactein in 12 human tumor cell lines. In vivo, mouse sarcoma S180 and human lung cancer A549 cells were respectively implanted subcutaneously in ICR mice and nude mice to establish implanted tumor models. Flow cytometry (FCM) was used to assay the cycle distribution of the tumor cells. Immunohistochemistry was used to measure CD31-positive expression in the xenogrft tumor by analyzing microvessel density (MVD). In addition, acute toxicities of actein and 26-deoxyactein were also evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Actein and 26-deoxyactein inhibited the proliferation of the 12 human cancer cell lines tested with the values of 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50) between 12.29 and 88.39 μg/mL. In vivo, both actein (3-27 mg/kg) and 26-deoxyactein (3-27 mg/kg) significantly inhibited the growth of the implanted sarcoma S180 in a dose-dependent manner. Actein (10, 30 mg/kg) and 26-deoxyactein (10, 30 mg/kg) markedly inhibited the xenograft growth with T/C (%) values of 38%, 55% for actein, and 35%, 49% for 26-deoxyactein. Compared with the vehicle control, actein (10, 30 mg/kg) and 26-deoxyactein (10, 30 mg/kg) significantly reduced the MVD in the xenograft tumor. The FCM result showed that human leukemia HL-60 cells were arrested at G₁ phase after treated with either actein (6.25-25 μg/mL) or 26-deoxyactein (6.25-25 μg/mL) for 48 h. A limited trial in mice showed that both of the minimal lethal doses (MLDs) of actein and 26-deoxyactein were over 5 g/kg.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both actein and 26-deoxyactein have low toxicities. Importantly, both these two tetracyclic triterpenoids compounds isolated from rhizome of Cimicifuga foetida L. have significant antitumor activities in vitro and in vivo, which is associated with cell cycle arrest and angiogenesis inhibition.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Science &amp; Yunnan Key Laboratory of Pharmacology for Natural Products, Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650500, China. wudesong14@163.com.|Department of Pharmacology, Yunnan Institute of Materia Medica, Kunming 650111, China. wudesong14@163.com.
authors.forename: Desong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Yunnan Institute of Materia Medica, Kunming 650111, China. yaoqi313@126.com.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Science &amp; Yunnan Key Laboratory of Pharmacology for Natural Products, Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650500, China. chenyajuan0873@163.com.
authors.forename: Yajuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Embryology, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu 233030, China. huxiaodongzhi@126.com.
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Science &amp; Yunnan Key Laboratory of Pharmacology for Natural Products, Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650500, China. qing_cchen@126.com.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Qing
authors.affiliation: Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China. qiuminghua@mail.kib.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Minghua
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qiu
mesh_terms: D000072283:A549 Cells; D000818:Animals; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D031885:Cimicifuga / Q000737:chemistry*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D018922:HL-60 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D008819:Mice, Nude; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry; D027343:Rhizome / Q000737:chemistry*; D012503:Saponins / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D012510:Sarcoma 180 / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014315:Triterpenes / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D023041:Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D012503:Saponins; D014315:Triterpenes; C096066:26-deoxyactein; C096064:actein
keywords: 26-deoxyactein; IC50; actein; antitumor activity; cell cycle