@article{Tao2025, 
author = {Xinyue Tao and Xikun Liu and Qi Wang and Sujuan Wang and Clarence T.T. Wong and Zhiling Ma and Yi Zhou and Wenying Shi and Shaohong Xu and Xiaoying Zhang and Pengcheng Lin and Sen Zhang},
title = {Oenothein B from Epilobium angustifolium Suppresses CD47 and PD-L1 Expression in B16-F10 Melanoma Cells through PI3K/AKT/NF-κB/HIF-1α Signalling Pathway},
year = {2025},
journal = {Food Science and Human Wellness},
keywords = {Oenothein B, B16-F10, CD47, PD-L1, HIF-1α},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/FSHW.2025.9250774},
doi = {10.26599/FSHW.2025.9250774},
abstract = {Epilobium angustifolium (EA) is acknowledged in China for its dual use as both a medicinal herb and an edible plant. The pharmacological effects of EA mainly attribute to its high concentrations in its secondary metabolite: Oenothein B (OB). OB has shown anti-tumour activity in various cancer cell lines. However, its efficacy and immunopharmacological mechanisms in the treatment of melanoma remain largely unknown. Therefore, we evaluated the anti-tumour activity of OB in B16-F10 cells both in vitro and in vivo. The results revealed that OB suppressed the growth, migration, invasion, and cell cycle of B16-F10 cells in a dose-dependent manner while promoting apoptosis. OB inhibited B16-F10 cell growth by altering the tumour immune microenvironment, in which numbers of macrophages and T cells were elevated. Subsequent research showed that OB inhibited mRNA synthesis of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α via PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway, which led to the reduced expression of CD47 and PD-L1. In addition, OB enhanced macrophage phagocytosis by promoting macrophage polarisation from M2 to M1 via the PI3K/AKT pathway, and it also enhanced the tumour-killing activity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). In summary, our findings uncover the hitherto unidentified mechanism in which OB suppresses CD47 and PD-L1 in B16-F10 cells, and enhances phagocytosis of these cells by macrophages and killing of these cells by T cells. These results suggest that OB holds promise as a potent immunotherapeutic agent for the treatment of melanoma cancer.}
}