Vol. 2 No. 6 (2025)

Research Articles

A Transcriptome Sequencing Analysis on Berberine-mediated Gene Expression in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma cells

Published 2025-11-30

  • Rong Liu
    • ,
  • Hongkong Tang
    • ,
  • Faqing Tang

Rong Liu
Loudi Central Hospital image/svg+xml

Hongkong Tang
Central South University image/svg+xml , Hunan Cancer Hospital image/svg+xml

Faqing Tang
Central South University image/svg+xml , Hunan Cancer Hospital image/svg+xml

Abstract

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a highly prevalent head and neck malignant tumor in southern China and Southeast Asia. Traditional Chinese medicine treatment with Coptis chinensis as the main medicine is an important part of the comprehensive treatment of NPC with traditional Chinese medicine. The extract of Coptis chinensis, berberine, has good inhibitory effects on various solid tumors and hematological tumors, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma. However, its inhibitory effect and mechanism on tumors are unclear. This study used high-throughput sequencing technology to analyze the effect of berberine on RNA transcriptome of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells to reveal the molecular mechanism of berberine anti-NPC. The Transcriptome Sequestration Analysis showed that berberine treatment significantly enriched differentially expressed genes in GO processes such as misfolded protein endoplasmic reticulum stress, DNA replication, cell apoptosis, and inflammatory response. Signal pathway analysis showed that differentially expressed genes were significantly enriched in tumor oncogenic and autophagic regulatory signaling pathways such as MAPK, Hippo, PI3K/AKT, TGF β, p53, etc. Berberine significantly altered the transcriptome expression profile of NPC cells, inhibited pro- tumor signals such as AKT/mTOR, thereby suppressing the growth, proliferation, migration, and invasion ability of NPC cells, inducing autophagic death of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells, and inhibiting cell growth and malignant characteristics.

Keywords

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Berberine, Transcriptome, Gene expression, RNA transcription

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