Bigelovin is a
sesquiterpene lactone isolated from the plant Inula helianthus-aquatica which was traditionally used in
cancer treatment in Yunnan, China. The potent apoptotic activities of
bigelovin in human
leukemia U937 cells were shown in our previous study. The present study investigated the anti-angiogenic and immunomodulatory effects of
bigelovin using transgenic zebrafish Tg(fli1a:EGFP)y1 with fluorescent blood vessels and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), respectively. Furthermore, the inhibitory activities of
bigelovin on the human endothelial cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) were also examined. Our results showed that the growth of subintestinal vessels of the
bigelovin-treated zebrafish embryos was significantly inhibited and the gene expressions in angiogenesis signaling pathways (e.g. Ang2 and Tie2) of the zebrafish were down-regulated after
bigelovin treatment. Besides, the proliferation and Th1
cytokines productions (e.g. IFN-γ, IL-2 and
IL-12) were suppressed in
bigelovin-treated PBMCs. On the other hand,
bigelovin was shown to significantly inhibit the human monocyte adhesion to human endothelial cells and the gene expressions of
inflammation-related CAMs (e.g. ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and
E-selectin) were significantly down-regulated in
bigelovin-treated human endothelial cells. In summary, our data provide the first evidence that
bigelovin possesses anti-angiogenic and immunomodulatory activities, suggesting
bigelovin may exert multi-target functions against
cancer in animal models.