ArticleBMC cancer2015
Berberine, a natural compound, suppresses Hedgehog signaling pathway activity and cancer growth.
Article in BMC cancer, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Anticancer effect of berberine based on experimental animal models of various cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC cancer · 2019Pooled it
- Cancer chemoprevention: signaling pathways and strategic approaches.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2025Review
- Microbial infection and treatment strategies in cancer patients.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Review
- Strategies and mechanisms targetingFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Review
- Hedgehog signaling in tissue homeostasis, cancers, and targeted therapies.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2023Review
- The emerging roles of Hedgehog signaling in tumor immune microenvironment.Frontiers in oncology · 2023Review
- Cepharanthine hydrochloride inhibits the Wnt/β‑catenin/Hedgehog signaling axis in liver cancer.Oncology reports · 2022Article
- Recent Advances in Berberine Inspired Anticancer Approaches: From Drug Combination to Novel Formulation Technology and Derivatization.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Review
- Berberine ameliorates lipopolysaccharide‑induced inflammatory responses in mouse inner medullary collecting duct‑3 cells by downregulation of NF‑κB pathway.Molecular medicine reports · 2020Article
- Hedgehog signaling pathway and vitamin D receptor gene variants as potential risk factors in odontogenic cystic lesions.Clinical oral investigations · 2019Article
- Naturally occurring anti-cancer compounds: shining from Chinese herbal medicine.Chinese medicine · 2019Review
- Therapeutic targeting of oncogenic transcription factors by natural products in eye cancer.Pharmacological research · 2018Review
- Regulation of Hedgehog Signaling in Cancer by Natural and Dietary Compounds.Molecular nutrition & food research · 2018Review
- Synthesis and Investigation ofACS medicinal chemistry letters · 2017Article
- Solasonine, A Natural Glycoalkaloid Compound, Inhibits Gli-Mediated Transcriptional Activity.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2016Article
- Berberine modulates cisplatin sensitivity of human gastric cancer cells by upregulation of miR-203.In vitro cellular & developmental biology. Animal · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBerberine (BBR), a natural alkaloid compound, is used as a non-prescription drug in China for treating diarrhea and gastroenteritis. Many studies have revealed that BBR possesses anticancer effect. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying its anticancer action is far from being fully elucidated. This study is aimed to determine the effect of BBR on the hedgehog (Hh) activity and the growth of cancers addiction to Hh activity.
methodsThe Hh activity was determined by dual luciferase assays and quantitative RT-PCR analyses. The growth inhibition of BBR on medulloblastoma which was obtained from ptch+/-;p53-/- mice was analyzed by 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (Brdu) assays and by allografting the medulloblastoma into nude mice. The data were statistically analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multiple comparison between the groups was performed using Dunnett's method.
resultsIn this study, we found that BBR significantly inhibited the Hh pathway activity. Meanwhile, we observed that BBR failed to affect the transcriptional factors activities provoked by tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), thus suggesting its unique property against Hh pathway activity. Further studies revealed that BBR inhibited the Hh pathway activity by potentially targeting the critical component Smoothened (Smo) and most likely shared the same binding site on Smo with cyclopamine, a classical Smo inhibitor. Finally, we demonstrated that BBR obviously suppressed the Hh-dependent medulloblastoma growth in vitro and in vivo.
conclusionCollectively, our study uncovered a novel molecular mechanism responsible for the anticancer action of BBR, thus opening the way for the usage of BBR for therapeutics of cancers addiction to aberrant Hh pathway activity.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.