Transcriptome sequencing analysis of ursolic acid-mediated proliferation suppression on cutaneous T-cell lymphoma cells

Background: Ursolic acid is a triterpenoid compound found in natural plants that exhibits antiproliferative effects in various cancer cells. Our study is the first to demonstrate the strong inhibitory effects of ursolic acid on the proliferation of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) cells. We aimed to further investigate the underlying mechanism of the proliferation inhibition induced by ursolic acid in CTCL cells using transcriptome sequencing. Methods: Cell counting kit-8 assays were used to observe the effects of six traditional medicine monomers on the proliferation of CTCL cells. Transcriptome sequencing was used to identify differentially expressed genes after ursolic acid treatment. Bioinformatics analysis was performed to determine the potential mechanism. Real-time quantitative PCR and western blotting analyses were performed to confirm the sequencing results and verify the possible mechanisms of ursolic acid-mediated proliferation inhibition in CTCL cells. Results: Ursolic acid exhibited the strongest inhibitory effect on the proliferation of CTCL cells among the six traditional medicine monomers. Transcriptome sequencing analysis showed that 2,466 genes were significantly altered. Combined with Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes functional enrichment analysis and protein-protein interaction network analysis, the interaction of various pathways and signaling molecules, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha, NLR family pyrin domain containing 1, c-Jun N-terminal kinase, and melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5, accounted for the anti-tumor effects of ursolic acid in CTCL cells. Conclusion: Ursolic acid significantly inhibited the proliferation of CTCL cells, and our study laid a theoretical foundation for the future treatment of CTCL using ursolic acid.