Hedyotis diffusa plus Scutellaria barbata Induce Bladder Cancer Cell Apoptosis by Inhibiting Akt Signaling Pathway...

Traditional Chinese medicine is increasingly used to treat cancer. Our clinical experiences identify Hedyotis diffusa plus Scutellaria barbata as the most common herb-pair (couplet medicinal) used for the core treatment of bladder cancer. This study aims to investigate the antitumor effect of the herb-pair in bladder cancer cells. The results show that Hedyotis diffusa plus Scutellaria barbata inhibited bladder cancer cell growth and clone formation in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner. It also induced cell apoptosis through decreasing Akt activation and reducing the expression of antiapoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Mcl-1. Further experiments showed that miR-155 was reduced by the herb-pair and miRNA-155 inhibitor induced cell apoptosis and suppressed Akt activation. Overexpression of miR-155 reversed herb-pair induced cell apoptosis through activating Akt pathway in both bladder cancer cell lines. The findings reveal that Hedyotis diffusa plus Scutellaria barbata reduce Akt activation through reducing miR-155 expression, resulting in cell apoptosis. It demonstrated the potential mechanism of Hedyotis diffusa plus Scutellaria barbata for the core treatment of bladder cancer.