Berberine induces p53 expression and leads to the decrease of the mitochondrial membrane potential, Cytochrome C release and activation of caspase-3 for the induction of apoptosis.

No abstract

No abstract

Ghrelin is a newly discovered gastric peptide which stimulates food intake, energy balance, and growth hormone release. Recent reports have also shown that circulating ghrelin can efficiently reach the brain. However, the molecular mechanisms and pathophysiologic roles underlying ghrelin-induced glioma migration remain unclear. Glioma is the most common primary adult brain tumor with poor prognosis because of the spreading of tumor cell to the other regions of brain easily. In present study, we found that application of recombinant human ghrelin enhances the glioma cell migration in both rat C6 and human U251 cells. Ghrelin and its receptor GHS-R (growth hormone secretagogue receptor) are expressed in a wide variety of tissues and cell types, including various cancer cells. However, little is known about the expression of ghrelin or GHS-R in brain tumors. Here, we found that ghrelin increased GHS-R receptor up-regulation, and the enhancement of ghrelin-induced glioma cell motility markedly inhibited by a GHS-R antagonist. In addition, ghrelin-mediated migration was attenuated by treatment of CaMKII inhibitor, and AMPK inhibitors and pre-transfection with AMPK siRNA. Moreover, ghrelin stimulation also increased the phosphorylation of CaMKII and AMPK. Treatment with three different types of NF-κB inhibitors or pre-transfection with KM-IKKα, or KM-IKKβ also reduced ghrelin-induced glioma cell migration. Moreover, treatment of ghrelin also induced IKKα/β activation, IκBα phosphorylation, p65 phosphorylation at Ser(536), and increased NF-κB-DNA binding activity and κB-transcriptional activity. These results indicate that ghrelin enhances migration of glioma cells is mainly regulated by the GHS-R, CaMKII, AMPK, and NF-κB pathway.

The hepatoprotective potential of hispolon against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver damage was evaluated in preventive models in rats. Male rats were intraperitoneally treated with hispolon or silymarin once daily for 7 consecutive days. One hour after the final hispolon or silymarin treatment, the rats were injected with CCl4. Administration with hispolon or silymarin significantly decreased the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels in serum and increased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and glutathione (GSH) content and decreased the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in liver compared with CCl4-treated group. Liver histopathology also showed that hispolon reduced the incidence of liver lesions induced by CCl4. In addition, hispolon decreased nitric oxide (NO) production and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) activation in CCl4-treated rats. We also examined the involvement of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 in the development of CCl4-induced liver damage in rats. Hispolon inhibited the expression of MMP-9 protein, indicating that MMP-9 played an important role in the development of CCl4-induced rat liver damage. Therefore, we speculate that hispolon protects rats from liver damage through their prophylactic redox balancing ability and anti-inflammation capacity.