{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T16:27:47Z","timestamp":1777566467743,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,5,19]],"date-time":"2017-05-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1495152000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Isorhynchophylline (Rhy) is an active pharmacological component of Uncaria rhynchophylla that has been reported previously to exert significant antihypertensive and neuroprotective effects. However, very little is known about its potential anti-cancer activities. This study was carried out to evaluate the anticancer effects of Rhy against various human carcinoma cell lines. We found that Rhy exhibited substantial cytotoxic effect against human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells when compared with other human carcinoma cell lines including those of lung, pancreas, prostate, head and neck, breast, multiple myeloma, brain and renal cell carcinoma. Rhy induced apoptosis as characterized by accumulation of cells in sub G1 phase; positive Annexin V binding; activation of caspase-8, -9, and -3; and cleavage of PARP (poly-ADP ribose polymerase). This effect of Rhy correlated with the down-regulation of various proteins that mediated cell proliferation, cell survival, metastasis, and angiogenesis. Moreover, cell proliferation, migration, and constitutive CXCR4 (C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4), MMP-9 (Matrix metallopeptidase-9), and MMP-2 expression were inhibited upon Rhy treatment. We further investigated the effect of Rhy on the oncogenic cell signaling cascades through phospho-kinase array profiling assay. Rhy was found to abrogate phospho-p38, ERK, JNK, CREB, c-Jun, Akt, and STAT3 signals, but interestingly enhanced phospho-p53 signal. Overall, our results indicate, for the first time, that Rhy could exert anticancer and anti-metastatic effects through regulation of multiple signaling cascades in hepatocellular carcinoma cells.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms18051095","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,5,23]],"date-time":"2017-05-23T01:47:33Z","timestamp":1495504053000},"page":"1095","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":42,"title":["Isorhynchophylline, a Potent Plant Alkaloid, Induces Apoptotic and Anti-Metastatic Effects in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells through the Modulation of Diverse Cell Signaling Cascades"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Hanwool","family":"Lee","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 24 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02447, Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Seung","family":"Baek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 24 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02447, Korea"},{"name":"College of Korean Medicine, Woosuk University, 46 Eoeun-ro, Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do 54987, Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jong","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 24 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02447, Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chulwon","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 24 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02447, Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jeong-Hyeon","family":"Ko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 24 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02447, Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0060-5777","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Seok-Geun","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 24 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02447, Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Arunachalam","family":"Chinnathambi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sulaiman","family":"Alharbi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Woong","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 24 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02447, Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jae-Young","family":"Um","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 24 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02447, Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gautam","family":"Sethi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"},{"name":"School of Biomedical Sciences, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6009, Australia"},{"name":"Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117600, Singapore"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2882-0612","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kwang","family":"Ahn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 24 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02447, Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,5,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"48","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jep.2015.06.011","article-title":"Medicinal uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of the genus Uncaria","volume":"173","author":"Zhang","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. 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