Physcion 8-O-β-glucopyranoside induced ferroptosis via regulating miR-103a-3p/GLS2 axis in gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer (GC) is a common human malignancy tumor of digestive tract in worldwide. Physcion 8-O-β-glucopyranoside (PG) exhibits anti-tumor effects in various cancer cells. This study aimed to explore the biological behavior effects of PG on GC cells, and determine its underlying mechanism. The effect of PG treatment on the ferroptotic GC cell death was detected by ROS level, intracellular Fe2+ level and malondialdehyde (MDA) generation in vitro. The mRNA expression was detected by RT-qPCR. The interaction between miR-103a-3p and glutaminase 2 (GLS2) were verified by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. Cell proliferation, invasion and migration were examined by CCK-8 and Transwell assay. Western blot was used to examine the expression of GLS2, SLC1A5 and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) related proteins. We also evaluated the influence of PG on the tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. PG-induced ferroptosis in GC cells through upregulating ROS level, intracellular Fe2+ level and MDA generation. Besides, PG also significantly enhanced the protein level of GLS2, which was an important transporter of glutamine to glutamate. Importantly, miR-103a-3p directly interacted with GLS2 and suppressed its expression. Mechanistically, PG treatment significantly promoted ferroptosis and anti-tumorigenesis by downregulating inhibitory effect of miR-103a-3p on GLS2 expression. Our studies confirmed that PG exerts pro-ferroptosis and anti-tumor effects in vitro and in vivo through regulating miR-103a-3p/GLS2 axis, thereby highlighting its therapeutic potential in GC.