Zhiliang Li,1,2,* Jiali Yang,1,3,* Yang Sun,1 Shuo Han,1 Jietao Gong,1 Yi Zhang,1,3 Zhiyuan Feng,1 Hong Yao,4 Peiying Shi1,5 

1College of Bee Science and Biomedicine, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, People’s Republic of China; 2College of Food Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, People’s Republic of China; 3College of Animal Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, School of Pharmacy, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350122, People’s Republic of China; 5State and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Natural Biotoxins, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Hong Yao, Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, School of Pharmacy, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350122, People’s Republic of China, Email hongyao@mail.fjmu.edu.cn Peiying Shi, College of Bee Science and Biomedicine, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, People’s Republic of China, Email peiyshi@126.com

Purpose: Bee pollen possesses favorable anticancer activities. As a medicinal plant source, Schisandra chinensis bee pollen (SCBP) possesses potential pharmacological properties, such as reducing cisplatin-induced liver injury, but its anti–liver cancer effect is still rarely reported. This paper aims to investigate the effect and mechanism of SCBP extract (SCBPE) on hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells.
Methods: The effect of SCBPE on cell proliferation and migration of HepG2 cells was evaluated based on MTT assay, morphology observation, or scratching assay. Furthermore, tandem mass tag-based quantitative proteomics was used to study the effect mechanisms. The mRNA expression levels of identified proteins were verified by RT-qPCR.
Results: Tandem mass tag-based quantitative proteomics showed that 61 differentially expressed proteins were obtained in the SCBPE group compared with the negative-control group: 18 significantly downregulated and 43 significantly upregulated proteins. Bioinformatic analysis showed the significantly enriched KEGG pathways were predominantly ferroptosis-, Wnt-, and hepatocellular carcinoma-signaling ones. Protein–protein interaction network analysis and RT-qPCR validation revealed SCBPE also downregulated the focal adhesion–signaling pathway, which is abrogated by PF-562271, a well-known inhibitor of FAK.
Conclusion: This study confirmed SCBPE suppressed the cell proliferation and migration of hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells, mainly through modulation of ferroptosis-, Wnt-, hepatocellular carcinoma-, and focal adhesion–signaling pathways, providing scientific data supporting adjuvant treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma using SCBP.

Keywords: Schisandra chinensis bee pollen extract, HepG2 cells, proteomics, ferroptosis, Wnt-signaling pathway, focal adhesion–signaling pathway