Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Dec 28, 2017; 23(48): 8512-8525
Published online Dec 28, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i48.8512
Astragaloside IV inhibits pathological functions of gastric cancer-associated fibroblasts
Zhen-Fei Wang, Da-Guang Ma, Zhe Zhu, Yong-Ping Mu, Yong-Yan Yang, Li Feng, Hao Yang, Jun-Qing Liang, Yong-Yan Liu, Li Liu, Hai-Wen Lu
Zhen-Fei Wang, Da-Guang Ma, Yong-Ping Mu, Yong-Yan Yang, Hai-Wen Lu, Laboratory for Tumor Molecular Diagnosis, Affiliated People’s Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Huhhot 010020, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
Zhe Zhu, Jun-Qing Liang, Yong-Yan Liu, Department of cytotherapy for tumors, Affiliated People’s Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Huhhot 010020, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
Li Feng, Department of Abdominal Tumor Surgery, Affiliated People’s Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Huhhot 010020, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
Hao Yang, Department of Radiotherapy, Affiliated People’s Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Huhhot 010020, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
Li Liu, Central Laboratory, People’s Hospital of Wuhai City, Wuhai 016000, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
Hai-Wen Lu, Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Huhhot 010050, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
Author contributions: Wang ZF, Ma DG, Lu HW and Liu L designed the research; Wang ZF, Zhu Z, Mu YP, Yang YY, Yang H and Liang JQ performed the research; Feng L and Liu YY analyzed the data; Liu L and Wang ZF wrote the paper.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81760552; the Program of the Inner Mongolia Natural Science Foundation, No. 2016MS0824 and No. 2015MS0896; the Program of “Keji Baiwan Gongcheng” of Inner Mongolia Medical University, No. YKD2015KJBW008; and the Supporting Program for Outstanding Youth in Science and Technology of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, No. NJYT-17-B30.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Affiliated People’s Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University.
Conflict-of-interest statement: To the best of our knowledge, no conflict of interest exists.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Hai-Wen Lu, PhD, Professor, Affiliated Hospital, Inner Mongolia Medical University, Huhhot 010050, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. haiwen_l@yeah.net
Telephone: +86-15548798800 Fax: +86-471-3360302
Received: July 25, 2017
Peer-review started: July 25, 2017
First decision: September 14, 2017
Revised: September 29, 2017
Accepted: November 22, 2017
Article in press: November 22, 2017
Published online: December 28, 2017
Processing time: 154 Days and 23.7 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Most of chemotherapeutic agents directly act on cancer cells. However, direct drug attacks on cancer cells have the drawbacks of accelerating cancer evolution, chemoresistance, recurrence, and metastasis. Cancer-associated fibroblasts considerably contribute to cancer initiation and progression by providing nourishment and support for cancer cells. Blocking the pathological functions of cancer-associated fibroblasts can eliminate the conditions suitable for cancer cell survival and expansion, representing a novel effective anti-cancer strategy. Unfortunately, few effective drugs have been found against cancer-associated fibroblasts. Here, astragaloside IV significantly inhibited the pathological functions of gastric cancer-associated fibroblasts, suggesting its valuable therapeutic application in gastric carcinoma.