Anti-cancer effect of palmatine through inhibition of the PI3K/AKT pathway in canine mammary gland tumor CMT-U27 cells

• Published in: BMC veterinary research Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 1 - 223
• Main Authors: Yoo, Min-Jae, Choi, Jawun, Jang, Ye-ji, Park, Sang-Youel, Seol, Jae-Won
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central Ltd 25.10.2023; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: 1-Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; AKT protein; Analysis; Angiogenesis; Aorta; Breast cancer; Cancer; Canine; Canine mammary gland tumors; Care and treatment; Cell death; Cell growth; Cell migration; Cell proliferation; Chemotherapy; CMTs; Dehydrogenases; Diseases; Dogs; Endothelial cells; Experiments; Health aspects; Immunocytochemistry; Kinases; Lymph nodes; Mammary gland; Medical prognosis; Metastases; Metastasis; Mutation; Palmatine; Patient outcomes; PI3K/AKT pathway; Prognosis; Protein kinases; Proteins; PTEN protein; Rapamycin; Relapse; Signal transduction; Surgery; TOR protein; Tumors; Western blotting; South Korea; United States > US; Wisconsin
• ISSN: 1746-6148; 1746-6148
• DOI: 10.1186/s12917-023-03782-2

Canine mammary gland tumors (CMTs) are the most common and lethal cancers in female dogs. Dysregulated phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3K)/AKT pathway reportedly was involved in the growth and metastasis of CMTs. However, there are few studies on therapeutic strategies for targeting the PI3K pathway in CMTs. In this study, we aimed to determine whether palmatine, a natural isoquinoline alkaloid with anti-cancer properties, could inhibit the growth of CMTs and whether the inhibitory effect was mediated through the PI3K/AKT pathway. Our in vitro experiments on CMT-U27, a CMT cell line, showed that palmatine reduced cell proliferation and induced cell death. Western blotting results revealed that palmatine decreased the protein expression of PI3K, PTEN, AKT, and mechanistic target of rapamycin in the PI3K/AKT pathway, which was supported by the results of immunocytochemistry. Additionally, palmatine suppressed the migration and tube formation of canine aortic endothelial cells as well as the migration of CMT U27 cells. Our in vivo results showed that palmatine inhibited tumor growth in a CMT-U27 mouse xenograft model. We observed a decreased expression of proteins in the PI3K/AKT pathway in tumor tissues, similar to the in vitro results. Furthermore, palmatine significantly disrupted the tumor vasculature and inhibited metastasis to adjacent lymph nodes. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that palmatine exerts anti-cancer effects against CMTs by inhibiting PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, suggesting that palmatine has potential as a canine-specific PI3K inhibitor for the treatment of CMTs.