Cryptotanshinone induces inhibition of breast tumor growth by cytotoxic CD4+ T cells through the JAK2/STAT4/ perforin pathway.

Cryptotanshinone (CPT), is a quinoid diterpene isolated from the root of the Asian medicinal plant, Salvia miotiorrhiza bunge. Numerous researchers have found that it could work as a potent antitumor agent to inhibit tumor growth in vitro, buith there has been much less emphasis on its in vivo role against breast tumors. Using a mouse tumor model of MCF7 cells, we showed that CPT strongly inhibited MCF7 cell growth in vivo with polarization of immune reactions toward Th1-type responses, stimulation of naive CD4+ T cell proliferation, and also increased IFN-γ and perforin production of CD4+ T cells in response to tumor-activated splenocytes. Furthermore, data revealed that the cytotoxic activity of CD4+ T cells induced by CPT was markedly abrogated by concanamycin A(CMA), a perforin inhibitor, but not IFN-γ Ab. On the other hand, after depletion of CD4+ T cells or blocked perforin with CMA in a tumor-bearing model, CPT could not effectively suppress tumor growth, but this phenomenon could be reversed by injecting naive CD4+ T cells. Thus, our results suggested that CPT mainly inhibited breast tumor growth through inducing cytotoxic CD4+ T cells to secrete perforin. We further found that CPT enhanced perforin production of CD4+ T cells by up-regulating JAK2 and STAT4 phosphorylation. These findings suggest a novel potential therapeutic role for CPT in tumor therapy, and demonstrate that CPT performs its antitumor functions through cytotoxic CD4+ T cells.