Astragalus extract Astragalus polysaccharide inhibits proliferation and invasion of glioma cells through the miR-223/FBXW7 signaling pathway

doi:10.5246/jcps.2025.01.005

Abstract

Abstract:

Astragalus extract Astragalus polysaccharide (APS), a natural extract, has been demonstrated to exert inhibitory effects on the development of various tumors by modulating microRNA (miRNA). However, the precise regulatory mechanism of miRNA-223 (miR-223) in brain glioma cells remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the inhibitory effect of Astragalus extract APS on brain glioma cells through the miR-223/FBXW7 signaling pathway and its potential mechanism. Using the TargetScan tool, we predicted the binding between miR-223 and FBXW7 and confirmed this binding relationship through dual luciferase assay. We compared the expression of miR-223 and FBXW7 in glioma and adjacent tissues and followed up the prognosis. U87 cells were subjected to APS treatment or were transfected with small interfering RNA (siRNA) of miR-223 mimics to examine the effects of these treatments on cell proliferation, apoptosis, and FBXW7 expression. Our results demonstrated that miR-223 directly bound to FBXW7, as confirmed by dual luciferase assay. Moreover, the mRNA expression of miR-223 in glioma tissues was higher than that in paracancerous tissues, while the mRNA and protein levels of FBXW7 in glioma tissues were lower than those in paracancerous tissues. In addition, we observed a negative correlation between the expression of miR-223 and FBXW7 (P < 0.05). APS significantly inhibited the proliferation and invasion of U87 cells, suppressed the expression of miR-223, and promoted the expression of FBXW7 (P < 0.05). Transfection of miR-223 mimic into cells reversed the inhibition of miR-223 and the increase of FBXW7 induced by APS (P < 0.05). Therefore, our findings suggested that APS might inhibit the proliferation and invasion of the glioma cell line U87 through the miR-223/FBXW7 signaling pathway.

Key words: Glioma, Astragalus polysaccharide, miRNA-223, FBXW7

Supporting:

Qicai Zhang, Jingrui Huo, Yuyan Zhang, Kuijun Jiang, Zhonglei Sun. Astragalus extract Astragalus polysaccharide inhibits proliferation and invasion of glioma cells through the miR-223/FBXW7 signaling pathway[J]. Journal of Chinese Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2025, 34(1): 55-65.

Figures/Tables 6

References 37

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