Esophageal cancer is one of the most common malignant digestive diseases worldwide. Although many approaches have been established for the treatment of esophageal cancer, the survival outcome has not improved. Pristimerin is a quinone methide triterpenoid with anticancer, antiangiogenic, anti-inflammatory, and antiprotozoal activities. However, the role of pristimerin in cancers such as esophageal cancer is unclear. In this study, we investigated the role and mechanisms of action of pristimerin in esophageal cancer. First, we found that pristimerin can induce apoptosis in esophageal cancer in vivo and in vitro. CCK-8 and clonogenic assays showed that pristimerin decreased the growth of Eca109 cells. In addition, we found that pristimerin decreased the protein expression of CDK2, CDK4, cyclin E, and BCL-2 and increased the expression of CDKN1B. Meanwhile, pristimerin elevated the ratio of LC3-II/LC3-I. Otherwise, downregulation of CDKN1B can reduce the esophageal cancer tumor growth induced by pristimerin. In conclusion, our findings revealed an important role of pristimerin in esophageal cancer and suggest that pristimerin might be a potential therapeutic agent for this cancer.

中文翻译：

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有希望的天然产物Pristimerin在食道癌细胞中诱导凋亡，细胞周期阻滞和自噬。

食道癌是全世界最常见的恶性消化系统疾病之一。尽管已经建立了许多治疗食道癌的方法，但其生存结果并未得到改善。Pristimerin是一种具有抗癌，抗血管生成，抗炎和抗原生动物活性的甲基苯醌三萜。但是，尚不清楚普里司特林在诸如食道癌等癌症中的作用。在这项研究中，我们调查了春黄菊在食管癌中的作用和作用机制。首先，我们发现普里司汀可以在体内和体外诱导食管癌细胞凋亡。CCK-8和克隆形成试验表明，普里司汀降低了Eca109细胞的生长。此外，我们发现pristimerin降低了CDK2，CDK4，cyclin E和BCL-2的蛋白质表达，并增加了CDKN1B的表达。同时，普里司汀提高了LC3-II / LC3-I的比例。否则，CDKN1B的下调可以减少普里司汀诱导的食道癌肿瘤的生长。总之，我们的发现揭示了普里司特林在食道癌中的重要作用，并表明普里司特林可能是该癌症的潜在治疗剂。