Oleanolic acid regulates the Treg/Th17 imbalance in gastric cancer by targeting IL-6 with miR-98-5p
Abstract
Background Gastric cancer (GC) was a type of malignant tumor with a very high fatality rate. Oleanolic acid (OA) was a class of pentacyclic triterpenes which was proved to have anti-cancer activity. While the specific molecular mechanism of OA's role in inhibiting GC was not fully understood. This study aimed to explore how OA played an anti-cancer role in GC. Methods Expression of miR-98-5p was examined using qPCR, and expression levels of Treg/Th17-related factors were evaluated using qPCR and western blot. Flow cytometry was conducted to assess the proportion of Treg cells and Th17 cells. Besides, dual luciferase reporter assay was performed to verify that IL-6 was a target of miR-98-5p. Results Downregulation of miR-98-5p and upregulation of Treg/Th17-related factors were observed in GC tissues. What's more, the Treg/Th17 imbalance was found in PBMCs of GC patients. Overexpression of miR-98-5p promoted balance of Treg/Th17 cells via directly targeting IL-6 to downregulate expression of IL-6. Finally, OA could promote balance of Treg/Th17 cells by upregulating expression of miR-98-5p. Discussion All our results proved that OA could promote balance of Treg/Th17 cells in GC by targeting IL-6 with miR-98-5p, indicating a potential drug for treatment of GC.
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Oleanolic acid promotes the balance of regulatory T cells/Th17 cells in gastric cancer by targeting interleukin-6 via the miR-98-5p pathway.
“OA was found to promote the balance of regulatory T cells (Tregs)/Th17 cells in GC by targeting interleukin-6 (IL-6) via the miR-98-5p pathway.122”
From Drug repurposing for cancer therapy (2024) · cites this paper as [122]
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- Authors
- Xu, Q.-F., Peng, H.-P., Lu, X.-R., Hu, Y., Xu, Z.-H., & Xu, J.-K.
- Affiliations
- Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Xu, Qian-Fei
- Xu, Zou-Hua
- ORCID
- Venue
- Cytokine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-12
- Volume
- 148
- Pages
- 155656
- ISSN
- 1043-4666 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3188386001
- Cited by
- 36
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 2.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Cytokine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › MicroRNA in disease regulation
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › T-cell and B-cell Immunology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Natural product bioactivities and synthesis
- Keywords
- oleanolic acid, gastric cancer, regulatory T cells, Th17 cells, Th17/Treg balance, interleukin-6, miR-98-5p, microRNA, pentacyclic triterpenes, anticancer mechanism, peripheral blood mononuclear cells
- MeSH terms
- Base Sequence, Humans, Oleanolic Acid, Stomach Neoplasms, Interleukin-6, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, MicroRNAs, Cell Line, Tumor, T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory, Th17 Cells
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