Open Access

ARTICLE

Silencing ribosomal protein L4 enhances the inhibitory effects of triptolide on non-small cell lung cancer cells by disrupting the mouse double minute 2 protein–P53 tumor suppressor pathway

NAN TANG^1,#, YAJING ZHAN^1,#, JIAYAN MAO^2,#, ANKANG YIN¹, WEI WANG^3,*, JUAN WANG^3,*

1 School of Medical Technology and Information Engineering, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310053, China
2 Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310053, China
3 Department of Clinical Laboratory, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy Combining Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310012, China

* Corresponding Authors: WEI WANG. Email: ; JUAN WANG. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Herbal Active Ingredients: Potential for the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer)

BIOCELL 2023, 47(9), 2009-2026. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2023.029269

Received 10 February 2023; Accepted 08 May 2023; Issue published 28 September 2023

Abstract

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a malignant tumor with high incidence worldwide. Triptolide (TP), extracted from Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F, exhibits potent broad-spectrum antitumor activity. Although some mechanisms through which TP inhibits NSCLC are well understood, those that involve ribosomal proteins remain yet to be understood. In this study, the transcriptome and proteome were integrated and analyzed. Our data indicated ribosomal protein L4 (RPL4) to be a core hub protein in the protein-protein interaction network. RPL4 is overexpressed in NSCLC tissues and cells. Transfection with siRPL4 or TP treatment alone arrested the cell cycle in the G1 phase, induced cell apoptosis, and repressed cell invasion. Compared to treating cells with TP alone or siRPL4, treating them with siRPL4–TP enhanced the inhibition of NSCLC cells. Reduced RPL4 expression reinforced the inhibitory effects of TP on NSCLC cells by disrupting the MDM2-P53 pathway and by altering the expression of PARP1/Snail/cyclin D1. In vivo assays verified that TP induced cell apoptosis and reduced RPL4 expression in xenografts. These findings provide clues to facilitate the development of effective TP-based therapeutic strategies to kill NSCLC cells.

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Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material File

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