Physalis alkekengi var. franchetii extracts exert anti-tumour effects on non-small cell lung cancer and multiple myeloma by inhibiting STAT3 signalli

Abstract Background: Physalis alkekengi var. franchetii is an herb that possesses various ethnopharmacological applications. Herein, our current study focuses on the anti-tumour effect of the combination of various physalins, which are regarded as the most representative secondary metabolites from calyces of Physalis alkekengi var. franchetii . Methods: We mainly investigated the anti-tumour activity of the physalins extracted from Physalis alkekengi var. franchetii on both solid and haematologic cancers. The main cells used in this study were NCI-H1975 and U266 cells. The major assays used were the CCK8 assay, western blot analyses, an immunofluorescence assay, the Annexin V assay, and xenograft mouse model. Results: The results showed that physalins exhibited strong anti-tumoural effect on both non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and multiple myeloma (MM) cells by suppressing the constitutive STAT3 activity and further inhibiting the downstream target genes expression of STAT3 signalling, resulting in the enhanced apoptosis of tumour cells. Moreover, physalins significantly reduced tumour growth in xenograft models of lung cancer. Conclusions: Collectively, these findings demonstrated that the physalins from Physalis alkekengi var. franchetii may potentially act as chemopreventive or chemotherapeutic agents for NSCLC and MM by inhibiting the STAT3 signalling pathway. It is promising that the present study served as a guide to further explore the precise mechanism of Physalis alkekengi var. franchetii in cancer treatment.