Background
In this report we examine candidate pathways perturbed by Compound Kushen Injection (CKI), a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that we have previously shown to alter the gene expression patterns of multiple pathways and induce apoptosis in cancer cells.
Conclusions
Our results indicate that CKI likely acts through the effect of multiple compounds on multiple targets where the observed phenotype is the integration of these effects and synergistic interactions.
Methods
We have measured protein levels in Hep G2 and MDA-MB-231 cells for genes in the cell cycle pathway, DNA repair pathway and DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) previously shown to have altered expression by CKI. We have also examined energy metabolism by measuring [ADP]/[ATP] ratio (cell energy charge), lactate production and glucose consumption. Our
Results
Our results validate these pathways as important targets for CKI. We also examined the effect of the major alkaloid component of CKI, oxymatrine and determined that it had no effect on DSBs, a small effect on the cell cycle and increased the cell energy charge. Conclusions: Our results indicate that CKI likely acts through the effect of multiple compounds on multiple targets where the observed phenotype is the integration of these effects and synergistic interactions.