Silymarin, an extract of milk thistle seeds, prevents liver injury and disease progression in many animal models. Recent clinical studies indicate that silymarin also reduces hepatitis C viral load and progression of hepatitis C liver disease in humans. If we are to understand and exploit the full value of this natural product, we must understand how silymarin protects the liver, which has not been clearly elucidated. In our NCCAM-funded R21, we discovered that silymarin blocks hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and have since defined the stages of the HCV lifecycle that are blocked by silymarin. We have isolated and evaluated the 8 major components of silymarin in hepatoprotection assays that measure antiviral, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory functions. This proposal will use two parallel approaches to discover the mechanisms of action of silymarin. Specifically, we will identify the physiological target(s) of silymarin components that confer hepatoprotection in the forms of antiviral, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities. Our hypothesis is that silymarin components interact with mammalian biomolecules in a specific and productive manner to cause changes in signal transduction and gene expression in a cell to protect the liver. We will address the hypothesis in two specific aims that will 1) identify transcriptional changes using microarrays of liver cell lines and primary hepatocyte cultures treated with silymarin and silymarin-derived pure compounds, 2) identify and validate cellular targets of silymarin compounds using chemical proteomics. By examining silymarin-induced gene regulation and elucidating cellular targets of silymarin, this application is intentionally responsive to RFA-AT-11-001. At the end of the funding period, we anticipate that we will know the cellular targets of silymarin and how silymarin causes changes in a cell at a systems biology level, thereby providing the first detailed explanation of how silymarin protects the liver. The novel data emanating from this research project are expected to pave the way for identification of biomarkers of silymarin treatment and efficacy, as well as guiding refinements in silymarin- based natural product treatments for liver disease.

Public Health Relevance

Silymarin, an extract of milk thistle seeds, has been used in a variety of therapeutic applications that take advantage of its hepatoprotective properties, including prevention of HCV infection, inflammation, and oxidative stress. The physiological cellular target(s) and mechanism(s) of action of the component silymarin compounds are currently not known, and this proposal describes methods to identify these targets and mechanisms. We will then use this information to improve natural product-based treatments for liver disease, which is global health problem.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AT006842-02
Application #
8305463
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZAT1-SM (23))
Program Officer
Hopp, Craig
Project Start
2011-08-01
Project End
2016-07-31
Budget Start
2012-08-01
Budget End
2013-07-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$552,791
Indirect Cost
$164,258
Name
University of Washington
Department
Pathology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
605799469
City
Seattle
State
WA
Country
United States
Zip Code
98195
Graf, Tyler N; Cech, Nadja B; Polyak, Stephen J et al. (2016) A validated UHPLC-tandem mass spectrometry method for quantitative analysis of flavonolignans in milk thistle (Silybum marianum) extracts. J Pharm Biomed Anal 126:26-33
Kyle, Jennifer E; Zhang, Xing; Weitz, Karl K et al. (2016) Uncovering biologically significant lipid isomers with liquid chromatography, ion mobility spectrometry and mass spectrometry. Analyst 141:1649-59
Lovelace, Erica S; Polyak, Stephen J (2015) Natural Products as Tools for Defining How Cellular Metabolism Influences Cellular Immune and Inflammatory Function during Chronic Infection. Viruses 7:6218-32
Lovelace, Erica S; Wagoner, Jessica; MacDonald, James et al. (2015) Silymarin Suppresses Cellular Inflammation By Inducing Reparative Stress Signaling. J Nat Prod 78:1990-2000
Pferschy-Wenzig, Eva-Maria; Atanasov, Atanas G; Malainer, Clemens et al. (2014) Identification of isosilybin a from milk thistle seeds as an agonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma. J Nat Prod 77:842-7
Blaising, Julie; Lévy, Pierre L; Gondeau, Claire et al. (2013) Silibinin inhibits hepatitis C virus entry into hepatocytes by hindering clathrin-dependent trafficking. Cell Microbiol 15:1866-82
Polyak, Stephen J; Oberlies, Nicholas H; Pécheur, Eve-Isabelle et al. (2013) Silymarin for HCV infection. Antivir Ther 18:141-7
Napolitano, José G; Lankin, David C; Graf, Tyler N et al. (2013) HiFSA fingerprinting applied to isomers with near-identical NMR spectra: the silybin/isosilybin case. J Org Chem 78:2827-39
Sy-Cordero, Arlene A; Graf, Tyler N; Runyon, Scott P et al. (2013) Enhanced bioactivity of silybin B methylation products. Bioorg Med Chem 21:742-7
Althagafy, Hanan S; Graf, Tyler N; Sy-Cordero, Arlene A et al. (2013) Semisynthesis, cytotoxicity, antiviral activity, and drug interaction liability of 7-O-methylated analogues of flavonolignans from milk thistle. Bioorg Med Chem 21:3919-26

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