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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: BACKGROUND, RESULTS. Meshes: Animals, Antineoplastic Agents, Apoptosis, Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay, Gene Expression, Humans, Immunohistochemistry, In Situ Nick-End Labeling, Male, Mice, Mice, Nude, NF-kappa B, Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis, Signal Transduction, Triterpenes, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha, Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays.
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Does maslinic acid potentiate the anti-tumor activity of tumor necrosis factor alpha by inhibiting NF-kappaB signaling pathway? Context: Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) has been used to treat certain tumors in clinic trials. However, the curative effect of TNFalpha has been undermined by the induced-NF-kappaB activation in many types of tumor. Maslinic acid (MA), a pharmacological safe natural product, has been known for its important effects as anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-viral activities. The aim of this study was to determine whether MA potentiates the anti-tumor activity of TNFalpha though the regulation of NF-kappaB activation. In this study, we demonstrate that MA significantly enhanced TNFalpha-induced inhibition of pancreatic cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and potentiated TNFalpha-induced cell apoptosis by suppressing TNFalpha-induced NF-kappaB activation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Addition of MA inhibited TNFalpha-induced IkappaBalpha degradation, p65 phosphorylation, and nuclear translocation. Furthermore, MA decreased the expression levels of NF-kappaB-regulated genes, including genes involved in tumor cell proliferation (Cyclin D1, COX-2 and c-Myc), apoptosis (Survivin, Bcl-2, Bcl-xl, XIAP, IAP-1), invasion (MMP-9 and ICAM-1), and angiogenesis (VEGF). In athymic nu/nu mouse model, we further demonstrated that MA significantly suppressed pancreatic tumor growth, induced tumor apoptosis, and inhibited NF-kappaB-regulated anti-apoptotic gene expression, such as Survivin and Bcl-xl.
assistant
Our data demonstrate that MA can potentiate the anti-tumor activities of TNFalpha and inhibit pancreatic tumor growth and invasion by activating caspase-dependent apoptotic pathway and by suppressing NF-kappaB activation and its downstream gene expression. Therefore, MA together with TNFalpha could be new promising agents in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Final Decision: yes