Nuciferine Attenuates Cancer Cachexia‐Induced Muscle Wasting in Mice via HSP90AA1

ABSTRACT Background Around 80% of patients with advanced cancer have cancer cachexia (CC), a serious complication for which there are currently no FDA‐approved treatments. Nuciferine (NF) is the main active ingredient of lotus leaf, which has anti‐inflammatory, anti‐tumour and other effects. The pur...

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Main Authors: Xueyan An, Lisha Ma, Yulan Bai, Chaoyue Chen, Ji Liu, Awaguli Dawuti, Kewu Zeng, Baoxue Yang, Bo Han, Abudumijiti Abulizi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-04-01
Series:Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.13777
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author Xueyan An
Lisha Ma
Yulan Bai
Chaoyue Chen
Ji Liu
Awaguli Dawuti
Kewu Zeng
Baoxue Yang
Bo Han
Abudumijiti Abulizi
author_facet Xueyan An
Lisha Ma
Yulan Bai
Chaoyue Chen
Ji Liu
Awaguli Dawuti
Kewu Zeng
Baoxue Yang
Bo Han
Abudumijiti Abulizi
author_sort Xueyan An
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Background Around 80% of patients with advanced cancer have cancer cachexia (CC), a serious complication for which there are currently no FDA‐approved treatments. Nuciferine (NF) is the main active ingredient of lotus leaf, which has anti‐inflammatory, anti‐tumour and other effects. The purpose of this work was to explore the target and mechanism of NF in preventing cancer cachexia‐induced muscle atrophy. Methods The action of NF against CC‐induced muscle atrophy was determined by constructing an animal model with a series of behavioural tests, H&E staining and related markers. Network pharmacology and molecular docking were used to preliminarily determine the mechanism and targets of NF against CC‐induced muscle atrophy. The mechanisms of NF in treating CC‐induced muscle atrophy were verified by western blotting. Molecular dynamics simulation (MD), drug affinity responsive target stability (DARTS) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) were used to validate the key target of NF. Results After 13 days of NF treatment, the reduction of limb grip strength and hanging time in LLC model mice increased by 29.7% and 192.2% (p ≤ 0.01; p ≤ 0.001). Gastrocnemius and quadriceps muscles weight/initial body weight (0.98 ± 0.11 and 1.20 ± 0.17) and cross‐sectional area of muscle fibres (600–1600 μm2) of NF‐treated mice were significantly higher than those of the model group (0.84 ± 0.10, 0.94 ± 0.09, 400–800 μm2, respectively) (p ≤ 0.01; p ≤ 0.01; p ≤ 0.001). NF treatment also decreased the MyHC (myosin heavy chain) degradation and the protein levels of muscle‐specific E3 ubiquitin ligases Atrogin1 and MuRF1 in the model group (p ≤ 0.001; p ≤ 0.01; p ≤ 0.05). Network pharmacology revealed that NF majorly targeted AKT1, TNF and HSP90AA1 to regulate PI3K‐Akt and inflammatory pathways. Molecular docking predicted that NF bound best to HSP90AA1. Mechanism analysis demonstrated that NF regulated NF‐κB and AKT–mTOR pathways for alleviating muscle wasting in tumour bearing mice. The results of MD, DARTS and SPR further confirmed that HSP90AA1 was the direct target of NF. Conclusions Overall, we first discovered that NF retards CC‐induced muscle atrophy by regulating AKT–mTOR and NF‐κB signalling pathways through directly binding HSP90AA1, suggesting that NF may be an effective treatment for cancer cachexia.
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spelling doaj-art-c7d9c9c6cb1b4e94a6e1ae796abd4b1b2025-08-20T03:10:42ZengWileyJournal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle2190-59912190-60092025-04-01162n/an/a10.1002/jcsm.13777Nuciferine Attenuates Cancer Cachexia‐Induced Muscle Wasting in Mice via HSP90AA1Xueyan An0Lisha Ma1Yulan Bai2Chaoyue Chen3Ji Liu4Awaguli Dawuti5Kewu Zeng6Baoxue Yang7Bo Han8Abudumijiti Abulizi9Key Laboratory of Xinjiang Phytomedicine Resource and Utilization, Ministry of Education, College of Pharmacy Shihezi University Shihezi ChinaKey Laboratory of Xinjiang Phytomedicine Resource and Utilization, Ministry of Education, College of Pharmacy Shihezi University Shihezi ChinaKey Laboratory of Xinjiang Phytomedicine Resource and Utilization, Ministry of Education, College of Pharmacy Shihezi University Shihezi ChinaKey Laboratory of Xinjiang Phytomedicine Resource and Utilization, Ministry of Education, College of Pharmacy Shihezi University Shihezi ChinaKey Laboratory of Xinjiang Phytomedicine Resource and Utilization, Ministry of Education, College of Pharmacy Shihezi University Shihezi ChinaKey Laboratory of Xinjiang Phytomedicine Resource and Utilization, Ministry of Education, College of Pharmacy Shihezi University Shihezi ChinaKey Laboratory of Xinjiang Phytomedicine Resource and Utilization, Ministry of Education, College of Pharmacy Shihezi University Shihezi ChinaState Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs Peking University Beijing ChinaKey Laboratory of Xinjiang Phytomedicine Resource and Utilization, Ministry of Education, College of Pharmacy Shihezi University Shihezi ChinaKey Laboratory of Xinjiang Phytomedicine Resource and Utilization, Ministry of Education, College of Pharmacy Shihezi University Shihezi ChinaABSTRACT Background Around 80% of patients with advanced cancer have cancer cachexia (CC), a serious complication for which there are currently no FDA‐approved treatments. Nuciferine (NF) is the main active ingredient of lotus leaf, which has anti‐inflammatory, anti‐tumour and other effects. The purpose of this work was to explore the target and mechanism of NF in preventing cancer cachexia‐induced muscle atrophy. Methods The action of NF against CC‐induced muscle atrophy was determined by constructing an animal model with a series of behavioural tests, H&E staining and related markers. Network pharmacology and molecular docking were used to preliminarily determine the mechanism and targets of NF against CC‐induced muscle atrophy. The mechanisms of NF in treating CC‐induced muscle atrophy were verified by western blotting. Molecular dynamics simulation (MD), drug affinity responsive target stability (DARTS) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) were used to validate the key target of NF. Results After 13 days of NF treatment, the reduction of limb grip strength and hanging time in LLC model mice increased by 29.7% and 192.2% (p ≤ 0.01; p ≤ 0.001). Gastrocnemius and quadriceps muscles weight/initial body weight (0.98 ± 0.11 and 1.20 ± 0.17) and cross‐sectional area of muscle fibres (600–1600 μm2) of NF‐treated mice were significantly higher than those of the model group (0.84 ± 0.10, 0.94 ± 0.09, 400–800 μm2, respectively) (p ≤ 0.01; p ≤ 0.01; p ≤ 0.001). NF treatment also decreased the MyHC (myosin heavy chain) degradation and the protein levels of muscle‐specific E3 ubiquitin ligases Atrogin1 and MuRF1 in the model group (p ≤ 0.001; p ≤ 0.01; p ≤ 0.05). Network pharmacology revealed that NF majorly targeted AKT1, TNF and HSP90AA1 to regulate PI3K‐Akt and inflammatory pathways. Molecular docking predicted that NF bound best to HSP90AA1. Mechanism analysis demonstrated that NF regulated NF‐κB and AKT–mTOR pathways for alleviating muscle wasting in tumour bearing mice. The results of MD, DARTS and SPR further confirmed that HSP90AA1 was the direct target of NF. Conclusions Overall, we first discovered that NF retards CC‐induced muscle atrophy by regulating AKT–mTOR and NF‐κB signalling pathways through directly binding HSP90AA1, suggesting that NF may be an effective treatment for cancer cachexia.https://doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.13777AKT–mTORcancer cachexia, muscle wastingHSP90AA1NF‐κBnuciferine
spellingShingle Xueyan An
Lisha Ma
Yulan Bai
Chaoyue Chen
Ji Liu
Awaguli Dawuti
Kewu Zeng
Baoxue Yang
Bo Han
Abudumijiti Abulizi
Nuciferine Attenuates Cancer Cachexia‐Induced Muscle Wasting in Mice via HSP90AA1
Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle
AKT–mTOR
cancer cachexia, muscle wasting
HSP90AA1
NF‐κB
nuciferine
title Nuciferine Attenuates Cancer Cachexia‐Induced Muscle Wasting in Mice via HSP90AA1
title_full Nuciferine Attenuates Cancer Cachexia‐Induced Muscle Wasting in Mice via HSP90AA1
title_fullStr Nuciferine Attenuates Cancer Cachexia‐Induced Muscle Wasting in Mice via HSP90AA1
title_full_unstemmed Nuciferine Attenuates Cancer Cachexia‐Induced Muscle Wasting in Mice via HSP90AA1
title_short Nuciferine Attenuates Cancer Cachexia‐Induced Muscle Wasting in Mice via HSP90AA1
title_sort nuciferine attenuates cancer cachexia induced muscle wasting in mice via hsp90aa1
topic AKT–mTOR
cancer cachexia, muscle wasting
HSP90AA1
NF‐κB
nuciferine
url https://doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.13777
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