CASE suppresses HCC by by modulating Smad3 phosphorylation both at the C-terminal and linker region.

What is it about?

Previous studies showed Compound Astragalus and Salvia miltiorrhiza extract (CASE), extract from Astragalus membranaceus and Salvia miltiorhiza, significantly suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in rats induced by diethylinitrosamine (DEN), and in vitro experiments further demonstrated that CASE's anti-HepG2 cell invasion is associated with transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). We hypothesized that CASE's suppression of HCC is modulated by TGF-β/Smad signaling, and we conducted this in vivo study to test this hypothesis.

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Why is it important?

The shifting of pSmad3L toward pSmad3C by regulating TGF-β/Smad signaling could be a potential therapeutic target for HCC. We further discovered that CASE suppresses cell invasion triggered by TGF-β 1 and reduces pSmad3L and pSmad2C in HepG2 cells in vitro and suppresses diethylinitrosamine (DEN)-induced hepatocarcinogenesis in vivo. We intended to investigate the effects of CASE on the TGF-β/Smad signal pathway in rats with HCC induced by DEN.

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