Abstract
Dysregulation of the Hippo signaling pathway seen in many types of cancer is usually associated with a poor prognosis. Paris saponin VII (PSVII) is a steroid saponin isolated from traditional Chinese herbs with therapeutic action against various human cancers. In this study we investigated the effects of PSVII on human breast cancer (BC) cells and its anticancer mechanisms. We showed that PSVII concentration-dependently inhibited the proliferation of MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-436 and MCF-7 BC cell lines with IC50 values of 3.16, 3.45, and 2.86 μM, respectively, and suppressed their colony formation. PSVII (1.2–1.8 μM) induced caspase-dependent apoptosis in the BC cell lines. PSVII treatment also induced autophagy and promoted autophagic flux in the BC cell lines. PSVII treatment decreased the expression and nuclear translocation of Yes-associated protein (YAP), a downstream transcriptional effector in the Hippo signaling pathway; overexpression of YAP markedly attenuated PSVII-induced autophagy. PSVII-induced, YAP-mediated autophagy was associated with increased active form of LATS1, an upstream effector of YAP. The activation of LATS1 was involved the participation of multiple proteins (including MST2, MOB1, and LATS1 itself) in an MST2-dependent sequential activation cascade. We further revealed that PSVII promoted the binding of LATS1 with MST2 and MOB1, and activated LATS1 in the BC cell lines. Molecular docking showed that PSVII directly bound to the MST2-MOB1-LATS1 ternary complex. Microscale thermophoresis analysis and drug affinity responsive targeting stability assay confirmed the high affinity between PSVII and the MST2-MOB1-LATS1 ternary complex. In mice bearing MDA-MB-231 cell xenograft, administration of PSVII (1.5 mg/kg, ip, 4 times/week, for 4 weeks) significantly suppressed the tumor growth with increased pLATS1, LC3-II and Beclin 1 levels and decreased YAP, p62 and Ki67 levels in the tumor tissue. Overall, this study demonstrates that PSVII is a novel and direct Hippo activator that has great potential in the treatment of BC.
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Change history
10 December 2024
The original online version of this article was revised: In Figure 3b, there is an error in the image of MCF-7 cells treated with PSVII. We accidentally stored the MDA-MB-231 cells treated with PSVII as the MCF-7 cells treated with PSVII when we took the image. This led to the misuse. The authors state that these corrections do not affect the results or conclusions of this article.
09 January 2025
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41401-024-01453-y
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos 82072928 and 81802387), the Foundation for Innovative Research Group of Hubei Provincial Department of Science and Technology (No. 2021CFA071), the Foundation for Innovative Research Team of Hubei Provincial Department of Education (No. T201915), the Principal Investigator Grant of Hubei University of Medicine (No. HBMUPI201806), the Innovative Research Program for Graduates (No. YC2021004), the Faculty Development Grants from Hubei University of Medicine (No. 2018QDJZR03), the Scientific and Technological Project of Shiyan City of Hubei Province (Nos 21Y08 and 21Y09), and the National Training Program of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Undergraduates (Nos 202110929001 and 202110929002).
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YL conceived and planned the experiments. YCX, PP, XWL, XJ, JS, TZ, LZ, FW, YLR, QQY, and HZZ performed the experiment and analyzed the data. YL and YS wrote the paper.
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The original online version of this article was revised: In Figure 3b, there is an error in the image of MCF-7 cells treated with PSVII. We accidentally stored the MDA-MB-231 cells treated with PSVII as the MCF-7 cells treated with PSVII when we took the image. This led to the misuse. The authors state that these corrections do not affect the results or conclusions of this article.
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Xiang, Yc., Peng, P., Liu, Xw. et al. Paris saponin VII, a Hippo pathway activator, induces autophagy and exhibits therapeutic potential against human breast cancer cells. Acta Pharmacol Sin 43, 1568–1580 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41401-021-00755-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41401-021-00755-9
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