• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.16
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• pp.6829-6835
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• 2014

Chemotherapy is the primary therapy for malignant lymphoma (ML). However, the clinical outcome is still far from satisfactory. Consequently, an understanding of the mechanism of modulating cancer cell invasion, migration and metastasis is important for the development of more effective chemotherapeutic agents. FNC, 2'-deoxy-2'-${\beta}$-fluoro-4'-azidocytidine, a novel cytidine analogue, has demonstrated significantly inhibitory effects on proliferation of several non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) cell lines. A previous study indicated that FNC effectively inhibited the growth of Raji and JeKo-1 cells in dose-time dependent effects with $IC_{50}$ values of $0.2{\mu}M$ and $0.097{\mu}M$, respectively. This study was focused on investigating the anti-invasive properties of FNC on NHL cells and its potential mechanisms of action. Cell adhesion and transwell chamber assays were utilized to investigate the anti-invasive effects of FNC on Raji and JeKo-1 cells. Real-time PCR and Western blotting were employed to qualify the expression of ${\beta}$-catenin, the glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK-$3{\beta}$), E-cadherin vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9). The results revealed that FNC remarkably inhibited the adhesion, migration and invasion of two human aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma cell lines in a dose dependent manner. Furthermore, ${\beta}$-catenin, MMP-2, MMP-9, VEGF mRNA and protein levels were decreased after FNC treatment, while GSK-$3{\beta}$ and E-cadherin increased. Our studies thus provide evidence and a rationale that FNC may offer an effective chemotherapeutic agent by regulating the invasion and metastasis of aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma via inhibition of the Wnt/${\beta}$-catenin signaling pathway.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.1200-1208
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• 2009

Tight junctions (TJs) that act as paracellular permeability barriers play an essential role in regulating the diffusion of fluid, electrolytes and macromolecules through the paracellular pathway. In this study, we investigated the correlation between the tightening of TJs, permeability and the invasive activity of genistein - a bioactive isoflavone of soybeans - in human breast carcinoma MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. The inhibitory effects of genistein on cell proliferation, motility and invasiveness were found to be associated with the increased tightness of the TJs, which was demonstrated by an increase in transepithelial electrical resistance and a decrease in paracellular permeability. Additionally, the immunoblotting results indicated that genistein repressed the levels of the proteins that comprise the major components of TJ, claudin-3 and claudin-4, which play a key role in the control and selectivity of paracellular transport. Furthermore, genistein decreased the metastasis-related gene expressions of insulin like growth factor-1 receptor and snail, while concurrently increasing that of thrombospondin-1 and E-cadherin. In addition, we demonstrated that claudins play an important role in the anti-motility and invasiveness of genistein using claudin-3 small interfering RNA. Taken together, our results indicate a possible role for genistein as an inhibitor of cancer cell invasion through the tightening of TJs, which may counteract the up-regulation of claudins. In addition, our results indicate that this may be beneficial for the inhibition of tumor metastasis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.16
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• pp.6963-6966
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• 2015

Background: During the past few years, Hesa-A, a herbal-marine mixture, has been used to treat cancer as an alternative medicine in Iran. Based on a series of studies, it is speculated that Hesa-A possesses special cytotoxic effects on invasive tumors. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the selective anticancer effects of Hesa-A on several cancer cell lines with different metastatic potential. Materials and Methods: Hesa-A was prepared in normal saline as a stock solution of 10 mg/ml and further diluted to final concentrations of $100{\mu}/ml$, $200{\mu}g/ml$, $300{\mu}g/ml$ and $400{\mu}g/ml$. MTT-based cytotoxicity assays were performed with A549 (lung non small cancer), MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma), SKOV3 (ovarian cancer), and PC-3 (prostate adenocarcinoma) cells. Results: All treated cancer cells showed significant (P<0.01) or very significant (P<0.0001) differences in comparison to negative control at almost all of the tested doses ($100-400{\mu}g/ml$). At the lower dose ($100{\mu}g/ml$), Hesa-A reduced cell viability to 66%, 45.3%, 35.5%, 33.2% in SKOV3, A549, PC-3 and MCF-7 cells, respectively. Moreover, at the highest dose ($400{\mu}g/ml$), Hesa-A resulted in 88.5%, 86.6%, 84.9% and 79.3% growth inhibition in A549, MCF-7, PC-3 and SKOV3 cells, respectively. Conclusions: Hesa-A exert potent cytotoxic effects on different human cancer cells, especially those with a high metastatic potential.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.3857-3862
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• 2012

A total of 96 cases of invasive breast ductal carcinoma were examined for immunohistochemical expression of Bax and Bcl-2 in the epithelial tumor cells and endothelial cells of the blood vessels. We also investigated the association between both proteins in the epithelium in relation to tumor characteristics such as tumor size, grade, lymph node involvement, microvessel density (MVD), hormonal receptors expression and c-erbB-2 overexpression. Bax expression showed a significant association between tumor and endothelial cells (p<0.001) while Bcl-2 expression in tumor cells was inversely associated with that in the endothelial cells (p<0.001). Expression of Bcl-2 in tumor cells was strongly associated with expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors (p=0.003 and p=0.004, respectively). In addition, intratumoral MVD was significantly higher than peritumoral MVD (p<0.001) but not associated with Bax or Bcl-2 expression and other tumor characteristics. We concluded that the number of endothelial cells undergoing apoptosis was in direct linkage with the number of apoptotic tumor cells. Anti-apoptotic activity of the surviving tumor cells appears to propagate cancer progression and this was influenced by the hormonal status of the cells. Tumor angiogenesis was especially promoted in the intratumoral region and angiogenesis was independent of anti-apoptotic activity.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.4883-4889
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• 2013

Background: The most common incident cancer and cause of cancer-related deaths in women is breast cancer. The Myc gene is upregulated in many cancer types including breast cancer, and it is considered as a potential anti-cancer drug target. The present study was conducted to evaluate the Myc (gene and protein) expression pattern in an experimental mammary tumour model in rats. Materials and Methods: Thirty six Sprague Dawley rats were divided into: Experimental group (26 animals), which received the chemical carcinogen N-methyl nitrosourea (MNU) and a control group (10 animals), which received vehicle only. c-Myc oncoprotein and its mRNA expression pattern were evaluated using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively, in normal rat mammary tissue and mammary tumours. The rat glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene was used as internal control for semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Results: Histopathological examination of mammary tissues and tumours from MNU treated animals revealed the presence of premalignant lesions, benign tumours, in situ carcinomas and invasive carcinomas. Immunohistochemical evaluation of tumour tissues showed upregulation and heterogeneous cellular localization of c-Myc oncoprotein. The expression levels of c-Myc oncoprotein were significantly elevated (75-91%) in all the tumours. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR revealed increased expression of c-Myc mRNA in mammary tumours compared to normal mammary tissues. Conclusions: Further large-scale investigation study is needed to adopt this experimental rat mammary tumour model as an in vivo model to study anti-cancer strategies directed against Myc or its downstream partners at the transcriptional or post-transcriptional level.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.38-44
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• 2002

Pneumococcal surfacce protein A (PspA) is an important virulence factor and an antigenically variable surface protein of the pneumococci. To purify the PspA from S. pneumoniae KNIH1156 , a clinical isolate (type 19F), we have taken advantage of the fact that PspA is released from the surface of pneumococci into the medium by growing in a CDM-ET medium and PspA is capable of binding human lactoferrin, the iron carrier protein. PspA of S. pneumoniae KNIH1156 was purified from culture supernatant by human lactoferrin (hLf) affinity chromatography. The purified PspA was confirmed with anti-PspA antiserum and also had the binding capacity to hLf specifically. To determine whether the purified PspA could elicit protection in mice against pneumococcal inflection, we immunized the mice with purified PspA and subsequently challenged with S. pneumoniae KNIH1156. Immunization with purified PspA protected mice from 500 times the $LD^{50}$ of S. pneumoniae KNIH1156. Therefore, it has been shown that purified PspA fromS. pneumoniae KNIH1156 (type 19F) is a protective immunogen.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.434-439
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• 2002

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common head and neck cancers. OSCC generally has a poor prognosis due to its tendency towards a local invasion and subsequent metastasis, which is mediated by multiple proteolytic enzymes and angiogenesis. Soy products contain high levels of isoflavonoids, including the tyrosine kinase inhibitor, genistein, which has been identified as a potent inhibitor of cell proliferation and in vitro angiogenesis. The purpose of this in vitro study is to evaluate the anti-cancer effect of genistein with respect to the angiogenesis and basement membrane invasion in OSCC. The highly invasive OSCC cell line, HSC-3 cells were cultured in the presence of $10{\mu}M$ genistein for 24h. To evaluate the effects of genistein on the invasiveness and the gelatinolytic activity, in vitro invasion assay and zymography were performed. In order to evaluate the effect on the VEGF and bFGF mRNA expression, RT-PCR and northern hybridization reaction, and chemiluminescence detection were applied. The in vitro invasion assay showed that the genistein treatment reduced the cellular invasion through the artificial basement membrane and significant difference between the control group and the genistein treated group was shown in MMP-2 activity. Especially, the 62 kDa activated form of MMP-2 in the control group was 1.8 times higher than that in the genistein treated group. The results of the northern blot analyses indicated that VEGF mRNA expression in the genistein treated group was significantly down regulated. This study showed that genistein inhibits angiogenesis and reduces basement membrane invasion in OSCC. It seems to support the possibility of genistein as an anti-cancer agent.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.25-31
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• 2006

Objectives : We investigated the aniti-aging effects of the cosmetic products with Pinus densiflora on human skin by using non-invasive instruments. Methods : We made cosmetic products containing the extract of the needles of red pine, and measured physiological effects such as skin wrinkles, clarity, evenness, lifting, corneocyte exfoliation after volunteers applied the cosmetic products for 8 weeks. Results : We observed a skin lifting effect and a decrease in corneocytes amount after using the cosmetic products for 4 weeks. And the wrinkles, evenness and clarity of face skin improved significantly. Conclusion : We concluded that the cosmetic products containing the extract of the needles of reel pine had an anti-aging effect on the human face skin.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.94-99
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• 2021

Atopic dermatitis (AD), a chronic inflammatory skin disease, is characterized by itchy and age-dependent lesions. Previous studies have shown that pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) significantly improved chronic ulcers and ununited fractures, providing an evidence for the application of PEMF in resolving inflammation caused by AD. This study investigated the anti-inflammatory effect of PEMF on DNCB-induced AD in animal models. Five male hairless mice (6 weeks old) per group were assigned to a normal group, a sham group, and two PEMF groups (15Hz, 75Hz). Mice were treated with 2,4-Dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) to induce uniform AD among all groups excluding a normal group. To examine the inflammatory progress and the improvement of AD after the PEMF stimulation, images are taken with various cameras for non-invasive evaluation and the results are expressed using principal component analysis (PCA) for visualization. The results of this study demonstrated that PEMF effectively improved skin lesions without the use of drugs.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.1070-1083
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Sanghuangporus sanghuang (SS) has various medicinal effects, including anti-inflammation and anticancer activities. Despite the extensive research on SS, its molecular mechanisms of action on lung cancer are unclear. This study examined the impact of an SS alcohol extract (SAE) on lung cancer using in vitro and in vivo models. MATERIALS/METHODS: Different concentrations of SAE were used to culture lung cancer cells (A549 and H1650). A cell counting kit-8 assay was used to detect the survival ability of A549 and H1650 cells. A scratch assay and transwell cell invasion assay were used to detect the migration rate and invasive ability of SAE. Western blot analysis was used to detect the expression of B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), Bcl2-associated X (Bax), cyclin D1, cyclin-dependent kinases 4 (CDK4), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), and phosphorylated STAT3 (p-STAT3). Lung cancer xenograft mice were used to detect the inhibiting ability of SAE in vivo. Hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the effect of SAE on the structural changes to the tumor and the expression of Bcl-2, Bax, cyclin D1, CDK4, STAT3, and p-STAT3 in lung cancer xenograft mice. RESULTS: SAE could inhibit lung cancer proliferation significantly in vitro and in vivo without cytotoxicity. SAE suppressed the viability, migration, and invasion of lung cancer cells in a dose and time-dependent manner. The SAE treatment significantly decreased the proapoptotic Bcl-2/Bax ratio and the expression of pro-proliferative proteins Cyclin D1 and CDK4 in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, SAE also inhibited STAT3 expression. CONCLUSIONS: SAE reduced the cell viability and suppressed cell migration and invasion in human lung cancer cells. Moreover, SAE also exhibited anti-proliferation effects in vivo. Therefore, SAE may have benefits in cancer therapy.