[Frontiers in Bioscience E3, 326-340, January 1, 2011]

The effect of coptis chinensis on the signaling network in the squamous carcinoma cells

Hongxia Wang1, Fengchun Zhang2*, Fei Ye3, Yuan Ma1, David Y Zhang3

1Shanghai Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, China, 2Suzhou Jiulong Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, China, 3Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York University, USA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Materials and methods 3.1 .Cell lines, culture
3.2. Chemicals and drugs
3.3. Determination of cell viability
3.4. Pathway Array
3.5. Protein extraction and Western blot analysis
3.6. In vivo tumor growth assay
3.7. Statistical and bioinformatics analysis
4. Results
4.1. MTT assay
4.2. In vivo tumor growth assay
4.3. Pathway Array
4.3.1. Comparison proteins fold-change by Pathway Array
4.3.2. Conventional Western blot analysis
4.4. Pathway-Analysis
4.4.1. Path-net
4.4.2. Signal Expression Pathway Analysis
4.4.3. Dynamic Gene Co-expression network 5. Discussion
6. Acknowledgements
7. References

1. ABSTRACT

The effects of Coptis chinensis on the behavior of squamous cell carcinoma have not yet been established. We examined the anticancer activity of Coptis chinensis on human squamous carcinoma cells, both in vitro and in xenografted nude mice, and applied Pathway Array Technology to understand possible involvement of signaling pathways in Coptis Chinensis induced tumor cells inhibition as well. Following Coptis chinensis treatment, a time-dependent reduction in proliferation was observed in both cell lines and NCR/NU mice. Coptis chinensis has a wide effect on cell signaling, including cell cycle regulation (Cdk6, Cdk4, cyclin B1, cyclin E, cyclin D1, p27), cell adhesion (E-cadherin, osteopontin), differentiation, apoptosis(p-Stat3, p53, BRCA1), cytoskeleton (p-PKC α/βII, Vimentin, p-PKCα), MAPK signaling (raf-1, ERK1/2, p-p38, p-ERK), and the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling pathway (p-Akt, Akt, p-PTEN). In our conclusions, Coptis chinensis may be a novel therapeutic drug for squamous cell carcinoma.