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Saturated Fatty Acids Induce Ceramide-associated Macrophage Cell Death
Published on: October 31, 2017
Ginsenoside Rh2 reverses cyclophosphamide-induced immune deficiency by regulating fatty acid metabolism
Ying Qian1, Rongrong Huang1, Senlin Li1
1Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Abstract:
Ginsenoside Rh2 (G-Rh2) has well-established potent antitumor activity; yet, the effects of G-Rh2 on immune and metabolism regulation in cancer treatment, especially non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain unclear. We showed that G-Rh2 had a synergistic antitumor effect with cyclophosphamide (CY) on mice with NSCLC, and improved the immune deficiency caused by CY. Consistently, G-Rh2 exhibited no inhibitory effect on tumor growth of T cells-deficient nude mice. Furthermore, G-Rh2 treatment triggered the oxidative decomposition of fatty acid (FA), suppressed FA synthesis, increased ketone level, and decreased glucocorticoid (CORT) secretion. G-Rh2 significantly down-regulated the expression of fatty acid synthase (FASN). Of note, in liver-specific FASN knockout mice G-Rh2 failed to show the same immune enhancement effects. Further mechanistic exploration revealed that G-Rh2 suppressed the expression and nuclear translocation of sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP-1), and disturbed the SREBP-1-FASN interaction in vitro.
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