The Natural Compound Sinometumine E Derived from Corydalis Decumbens Promotes Angiogenesis by Regulating HIF-1/ VEGF Pathway in Vivo and in Vitro

The rhizome of Corydalis decumbens is a traditional Chinese medicine commonly utilized in the clinical treatment of acute ischemic stroke. Numerous phytochemical and biological investigations have demonstrated that protoberberine alkaloids from C. decumbens exhibit diverse pharmaceutical activities against various diseases. Sinometumine E (SE), a protoberberine alkaloid isolated from C. decumbens for the first time, is characterized by a complex 6/6/6/6/6/6 hexacyclic skeleton. In the current study, we investigated the protective effects of SE on endothelial cell injury and its angiogenesis effects in zebrafish. The results suggested that SE showed significant anti-ischemic effects on OGD/R-induced HBEC-5i and HUVECs cell ischemia/reperfusion injury model. Furthermore, it promoted angiogenesis in PTK787-induced, MPTP-induced, and atorvastatin-induced vessel injury models of zebrafish, while also suppressing hypoxia-induced locomotor impairment in zebrafish. Transcriptome sequencing analysis provided a sign that SE likely to promotes angiogenesis through the HIF-1/VEGF signaling pathway to exert anti-ischemic effects. Consistently, SE modulated several genes related to HIF-1/VEGF signal pathway, such as hif-1, vegf, vegfr-2, pi3k, erk, akt and plcγ. Molecular docking analysis revealed that VEGFR-2 exhibited high binding affinity with SE, and western blot analysis confirmed that SE treatment enhanced the expression of VEGFR-2. In conclusion, our study profiled the angiogenic activities of SE in vitro and in vivo. The key targets and related pathways involved in anti-ischemic effects of SE, shedding light on the pharmacodynamic components and mechanisms of Corydalis decumbens, and provides valuable insights for identifying effective substances for the treatment of ischemic stroke.