Solasodine suppresses nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression by inducing ferroptosis

Abstract Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant tumor with a high prevalence in China. Solasodine is a natural compound derived from the traditional herb that possess anticancer activity in various tumors, but its role in NPC remains unclear. Here, we demonstrated that solasodine potently sup...

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Main Authors: Jing Wang, DongHua Wang, SiQing Ma, BinSheng He, JiaoYang Lu, Zhen Guo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-05-01
Series:Scientific Reports
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-93834-4
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author Jing Wang
DongHua Wang
SiQing Ma
BinSheng He
JiaoYang Lu
Zhen Guo
author_facet Jing Wang
DongHua Wang
SiQing Ma
BinSheng He
JiaoYang Lu
Zhen Guo
author_sort Jing Wang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant tumor with a high prevalence in China. Solasodine is a natural compound derived from the traditional herb that possess anticancer activity in various tumors, but its role in NPC remains unclear. Here, we demonstrated that solasodine potently suppressed NPC growth and induced cell death both in vitro and in vivo. Network pharmacology identified HMOX1 as a pivotal target of solasodine linked to ferroptosis. Solasodine triggered ferroptotic hallmarks, including mitochondrial cristae disruption, elevated Fe2⁺/ROS/MDA, depleted GSH, and dysregulated ferroptosis-related proteins (HMOX1/COX2↑, GPX4/MUC1/SLC40A1↓). Crucially, ferroptosis inhibitors (Fer-1/Lip-1), but not apoptosis, necroptosis, or autophagy inhibitors, rescued solasodine-induced cell death, confirming ferroptosis as the dominant mechanism. In conclusion, by applying network pharmacology accompanied with experimental validation, our study unveils solasodine as a novel ferroptosis inducer for NPC treatment. However, its therapeutic potential requires further validation in patient-derived models and clinical trials.
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issn 2045-2322
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
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spelling doaj-art-5639d128f8a84b278ac978eee0ebf2ef2025-08-20T03:48:18ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-05-0115111710.1038/s41598-025-93834-4Solasodine suppresses nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression by inducing ferroptosisJing Wang0DongHua Wang1SiQing Ma2BinSheng He3JiaoYang Lu4Zhen Guo5Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Agricultural Biogenomics, Changsha Medical UniversitySchool of Nursing, Changsha Medical UniversityDepartment of Pharmacy, Hunan Chest HospitalHunan Provincial Key Laboratory of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Agricultural Biogenomics, Changsha Medical UniversityHunan Provincial Key Laboratory of the Fundamental and Clinical Research on Functional Nucleic Acid, Changsha Medical UniversityHunan Provincial Key Laboratory of the Fundamental and Clinical Research on Functional Nucleic Acid, Changsha Medical UniversityAbstract Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant tumor with a high prevalence in China. Solasodine is a natural compound derived from the traditional herb that possess anticancer activity in various tumors, but its role in NPC remains unclear. Here, we demonstrated that solasodine potently suppressed NPC growth and induced cell death both in vitro and in vivo. Network pharmacology identified HMOX1 as a pivotal target of solasodine linked to ferroptosis. Solasodine triggered ferroptotic hallmarks, including mitochondrial cristae disruption, elevated Fe2⁺/ROS/MDA, depleted GSH, and dysregulated ferroptosis-related proteins (HMOX1/COX2↑, GPX4/MUC1/SLC40A1↓). Crucially, ferroptosis inhibitors (Fer-1/Lip-1), but not apoptosis, necroptosis, or autophagy inhibitors, rescued solasodine-induced cell death, confirming ferroptosis as the dominant mechanism. In conclusion, by applying network pharmacology accompanied with experimental validation, our study unveils solasodine as a novel ferroptosis inducer for NPC treatment. However, its therapeutic potential requires further validation in patient-derived models and clinical trials.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-93834-4Nasopharyngeal carcinomaSolasodineFerroptosisNetwork pharmacologyCell death
spellingShingle Jing Wang
DongHua Wang
SiQing Ma
BinSheng He
JiaoYang Lu
Zhen Guo
Solasodine suppresses nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression by inducing ferroptosis
Scientific Reports
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Solasodine
Ferroptosis
Network pharmacology
Cell death
title Solasodine suppresses nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression by inducing ferroptosis
title_full Solasodine suppresses nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression by inducing ferroptosis
title_fullStr Solasodine suppresses nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression by inducing ferroptosis
title_full_unstemmed Solasodine suppresses nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression by inducing ferroptosis
title_short Solasodine suppresses nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression by inducing ferroptosis
title_sort solasodine suppresses nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression by inducing ferroptosis
topic Nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Solasodine
Ferroptosis
Network pharmacology
Cell death
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-93834-4
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AT binshenghe solasodinesuppressesnasopharyngealcarcinomaprogressionbyinducingferroptosis
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