Observational study on the inhibitory effect of luteolin,an alcohol extract from Prunella vulgaris,on the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B pathway,subsequently suppressing the proliferation and migration of optic glioma cells

Yang Baoyi; Ye Xiangmei; Wu Xian; Sun He

doi:10.3760/j.issn.1673-4777.2025.04.013

Abstract：Objective To investigate the effect of luteolin,the active ingredient in the alcohol extract of Prunella vulgaris,on the proliferation and migration of optic nerve glioma(ONG)cells,and to reveal its potential mechanism of action for tumor treatment.Methods The cultured U87-MG glioma cells were grouped for treat-ment.The control group was treated with dimethyl sulfoxide,and the 10,20,40 and 60 μmol/L luteolin treatment groups were treated with 10,20,40 and 60 μmol/L luteolin,respectively.The temozolomide treatment group was treated with 100 μmol/L temozolomide.The proliferation,migration and colony formation ability of U87-MG cells in different treatment groups were detected by scratch assay,colony formation assay and cell counting kit-8 assay.Real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting were used to detect the mRNA and protein expression of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase(PI3K)/protein kinase B(AKT)pathway-related genes,PI3K catalytic subunit γ(PIK3CG),AKT,vimentin and N-cadherin.Results Luteolin could significantly inhibit the migration,clonogenesis and proliferation of U87-MG glioma cells,and the differences were statistically significant compared with the control group(all P＜0.05).With the increase of luteolin concentration,the inhibitory effect was gradually enhanced,and the inhibitory effect of temozolomide group was significantly lower than that of luteolin group(all P＜0.05).The PI3K/AKT pathway gene PIK3CG mRNA expressions in glioma U87-MG cells treated with 10,20,40,60 μmol/L luteolin and temozolomide for 24 h were significantly lower than those in the control group[(0.236±0.016),(0.199±0.016),(0.143±0.058),(0.103±0.014),(0.458±0.014)vs(0.977±0.023)](all P＜0.05).With the increase of luteolin concentration,the expression of PIK3CG mRNA decreased gradually.Although the decrease of temozolomide group was not as great as that of luteolin group,the difference between temozolomide group and control group was more than 2 times.However,the expressions of AKT,vimentin and N-cadherin mRNA were not affected.Western blot results showed that compared with the control group,the expression level of PIK3CG protein in luteolin groups was also significantly decreased.The expression of PIK3CG protein in luteolin group was gradually decreased with the increase of luteolin concentration,and the expression of PIK3CG protein in temozolomide group was also decreased,but the reduction ratio was not as obvious as that in luteolin group.The results of this protein detection were consistent with the results of mRNA.Conclusion This study confirmed that luteolin can effectively inhibit the proliferation and migration of glioma cells,and may regulate the PI3K/AKT pathway through the low expression of PIK3CG,thereby affecting the proliferation and migration of ONG cells.This study provides an experimental basis for the treatment of ONG with luteolin from the alcohol extract of Prunella vulgaris,reveals the application value of luteolin as a potential drug for the treatment of ONG,and provides a solid theoretical basis for its clinical transformation.