Baohuoside-1 targeting mTOR inducing apoptsis to inhibit hepatocellular carcinoma proliferation, invasion and migration

Background: Baohuoside-1 is a flavonoid compound isolated from Epimedium koreanum Nakai. This study tried to systematically explore the potential anti-cancer functions of Baohuoside-1 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma and study related molecular mechanism. Moreover, as a potential candidate anti-cancer agent, Baohuoside-1 has relatively low toxic side effect. Methods: The anti-cancer function including proliferation, invasion and migration of Baohuoside-1 in liver cancer was systematically assessed via colony formation, transwell assay and migration assay. Moreover, the anti-cancer functions of Baohuoside-1 was confirmed based on the nude mouse transplantation tumor experiment. The potential targeted signaling pathway was tested via flow cytometery and western blot analysis. Results: In this study, we present the anti-HCC activity of Baohuoside-1 isolated from Epimedium through examing the effect of Baohuoside-1 on two different human liver cancer cell lines (HuH-7 and HepG2). Baohuoside-1 significantly inhibited the proliferation, invasion and migration of two liver cancer cell lines. Furthermore, the anticancer activity of Baohuoside-1 was confirmed via inhibiting liver tumor growth in nude mice in vivo. Additionally, the influence of Baohuoside-1 on liver cancer apoptosis was examined by analyzing the expression of pro/anti-apoptotic proteins (BAX, Bcl-2, caspase-3, and caspase-8). The potential targeting signaling of Baohuoside-1 was determined via testing key members' expression changes of mTOR and JAK2 signaling. Conclusion: The inhibition of liver cancer by Baohuoside-1 is through targeting mTOR signaling not JAK2 signaling to induce apoptosis. Our study indicates that Baohuoside-1 is a potential candidate drug for therapy against liver cancer.