Anti-tumor activity and the mechanism of a green tea (Camellia sinensis) polysaccharide on prostate cancer

Int J Biol Macromol. 2019 Feb 1:122:95-103. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2018.10.101. Epub 2018 Oct 17.

Abstract

In this study, a homogeneous polysaccharide (GTP), with a molecular weight of 7.0 × 104 Da, was isolated from Green tea, which was only composed of glucose. The antitumor effects of GTP on prostate cancer (PC) cell line along with the possible mechanism was examined. First, we investigate the potential role of microRNA-93 (miR-93) in PC progression. Our results showed that miR-93 was significantly upregulated in human PC tissues and several PC cell lines, and its overexpression was correlated with poor survival in PC patients. Furthermore, functional analysis showed that miR-93 overexpression promoted the migration, invasion and proliferation of PC-3 cells transfected with miR-93 mimics, while its knockdown displayed an opposite result in DU145 cells following miR-93 inhibitor transfection. Additionally, in vivo tumorigenic studies on nude mice confirmed that miR-93 mimic treatment accelerated the growth of PC-3 xenograft tumors. As expected, GTP (25, 50 and 100 μg/ml) inhibited growth of PC-3 cells via inducing apoptosis, which was achieved by elevation of bax/bcl-2 ratio and caspae-3 protein expression, as well as a decrease of miR-93. Thus, miR-93 may be a potential therapeutic target by GTP for PC therapy.

Keywords: Green tea polysaccharide; MicroRNA-93; Prostate cancer.

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Camellia sinensis / chemistry*
  • Carcinogenesis / drug effects
  • Cell Movement / drug effects
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Humans
  • Male
  • MicroRNAs / genetics
  • Molecular Weight
  • Monosaccharides / analysis
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness
  • Polysaccharides / chemistry
  • Polysaccharides / pharmacology*
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Up-Regulation / drug effects

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • MIRN93 microRNA, human
  • MicroRNAs
  • Monosaccharides
  • Polysaccharides