Plant compound apigenin blocks breast cancer's immune-cell helpers
Zhang Y, Liu Y, Feng F, Yu H, Sun C
Medicinal Plants
Apigenin is a flavonoid you've likely grown without knowing it, found in parsley, celery, chamomile flowers, and citrus peels, and this study adds to evidence that common garden and kitchen plants carry compounds worth studying for serious disease.
Researchers studied two herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine, Hedyotis diffusa and Scutellaria barbata, and found that together they can calm down immune cells that cancer tumors normally hijack to help them spread. Inside the herbs, they pinpointed apigenin, a compound also found in chamomile, parsley, and celery, as the ingredient responsible for jamming a chemical signal that lets breast cancer cells travel to other parts of the body. In mice, apigenin alone slowed tumor growth and cut down on lung metastases.
Key Findings
The herbal pair (HS) reduced tumor-associated macrophage infiltration and shifted macrophages away from a pro-tumor (CD206+) state in orthotopic breast tumor models
Single-cell RNA sequencing revealed an OPN-CD44 signaling axis between macrophages and tumor cells; HS lowered macrophage OPN and blocked downstream CD44-MEK/ERK activation in cancer cells
Apigenin, isolated from the herbal pair via LC-MS and validated by molecular docking, SPR, and CETSA as an OPN-binding compound, suppressed tumor growth and reduced lung metastatic lesions in vivo
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found that a traditional Chinese herbal pair reduces the spread of aggressive triple-negative breast cancer by reprogramming immune cells in the tumor environment, and identified apigenin, a compound found in many common plants, as the key active ingredient disrupting a cancer-spreading signal.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Hedyotis diffusa Willd-Scutellaria barbata herbal pair suppresses triple-negative breast cancer metastasis by targeting the tumor-associated macrophage-driven OPN-CD44 signaling axis.
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by a high propensity for metastatic relapse and a robust infiltration of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), which orchestrate a pro-metastati...
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