Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40066333›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in pharmacology2025

Cepharanthine hydrochloride: a novel ferroptosis-inducing agent for prostate cancer treatment.

Jing-Song Guan, Jing Jia, Ze-Xiu Huang, Yu-Qing Zhou, Jing-Jie Zheng, Qi-Man Lin, Yi-Fei Wang, Jiang-Lin Fan, Yao Wang

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in pharmacology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
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  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Jing-Song Guan *Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Large Animal Models for Biomedicine, South China Institute of Large Animal Models for Biomedicine, School of Pharmacy and Food Engineering, Wuyi University, Jiangmen, China.
Jing Jia *Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Large Animal Models for Biomedicine, South China Institute of Large Animal Models for Biomedicine, School of Pharmacy and Food Engineering, Wuyi University, Jiangmen, China.
Ze-Xiu HuangCollege of Life Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Yu-Qing ZhouGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Large Animal Models for Biomedicine, South China Institute of Large Animal Models for Biomedicine, School of Pharmacy and Food Engineering, Wuyi University, Jiangmen, China.
Jing-Jie ZhengGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Large Animal Models for Biomedicine, South China Institute of Large Animal Models for Biomedicine, School of Pharmacy and Food Engineering, Wuyi University, Jiangmen, China.
Qi-Man LinGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Large Animal Models for Biomedicine, South China Institute of Large Animal Models for Biomedicine, School of Pharmacy and Food Engineering, Wuyi University, Jiangmen, China.
Yi-Fei WangCollege of Life Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Jiang-Lin FanGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Large Animal Models for Biomedicine, South China Institute of Large Animal Models for Biomedicine, School of Pharmacy and Food Engineering, Wuyi University, Jiangmen, China.
Yao WangGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Large Animal Models for Biomedicine, South China Institute of Large Animal Models for Biomedicine, School of Pharmacy and Food Engineering, Wuyi University, Jiangmen, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Ferroptosis is an intracellular iron-dependent cell death that is distinct from apoptosis, necrosis, and autophagy. Increasing evidence indicated that ferroptosis plays a crucial role in suppressing tumors, thus providing new opportunities for cancer therapy. The drug cepharanthine, commonly used to treat leukopenia, has been discovered to function as an anticancer agent to multiple types of cancer via diverse mechanisms. However, the effect of cepharanthine on prostate cancer remains unclear. Methods: A semi-synthetic derivative of cepharanthine, cepharanthine hydrochloride (CH), is used in this study due to its better water solubility and bioavailability. The prostate cancer cell lines LNCaP, 22Rv1, PC3 and xenograft mouse models are used for detecting the anti-tumor effect of CH Results: CH inhibits cellular functions and trigger ferroptosis in prostate cancer cells. Mechanistic research revealed both common and distinct pharmacological mechanisms of CH-induced ferroptosis in different prostate cancer cells. High-throughput transcriptome analysis revealed that ferroptosis-related genes are significantly regulated in androgen receptor-dependent cells 22Rv1 and LNCaP, and less significantly in androgen receptor-independent cell PC3. Furthermore, CH was found to reduce the gene expressions and protein levels of GPX4 and FSP1 through modulating the activity of the androgen receptor signaling pathway, but not through its transcription factor activity. In addition, CH upregulated ACSL4 and downregulated DHODH, with the combined regulatory outcomes synergistically inducing ferroptosis. An Conclusion: This study has identified CH as a novel ferroptosis-inducing agent for the treatment of prostate cancer. The multiple mechanisms we found provides strong evidence for the eventual clinical application of the drug.

Indexed as

androgen receptorcepharanthinecombination therapyferroptosisprostate cancer

Identifiers

PMID40066333
PMCPMC11891225

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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.