• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.873-879
• /
• 2011

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), an anticancer agent was covalently attached to the recently developed sorbitol-based G8 transporter, and the conjugate (7) with FITC was found to have an affinity toward mitochondria and to readily cross BBB to gain an entry into mouse brain. Measured by $IC_{50}$, the conjugate (9) without the fluorophore showed enhanced cytotoxic activity toward two types of multidrug-resistant cell lines. These results strongly suggest that the sorbitol-based G8 transporter can be utilized as a good CNS delivery vector.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2012

Background: ${\alpha}$-Lipoic acid (${\alpha}$-LA) has been studied as an anticancer agent as well as a therapeutic agent for diabetes and obesity. We performed this study to evaluate the anticancer effects and mechanisms of ${\alpha}$-LA in a lung cancer cell line, A549. Materials and Methods: ${\alpha}$-LA-induced apoptosis of A549 cells was detected by fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis and a DNA fragmentation assay. Expression of apoptosis-related genes was analyzed by western blot and reverse transcription.polymerase chain reaction analyses. Results: ${\alpha}$-LA induced apoptosis and DNA fragmentation in A549 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. ${\alpha}$-LA increased caspase activity and the degradation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. It induced expression of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-related genes, such as glucose-regulated protein 78, C/EBP-homologous protein, and the short form of X-box binding protein-1, and decreased expression of the anti-apoptotic protein, X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was induced by ${\alpha}$-LA, and the antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine decreased the ${\alpha}$-LA-induced increase in expression of apoptosis and ER stress-related proteins. Conclusion: ${\alpha}$-LA induced ER stress-mediated apoptosis in A549 cells via ROS. ${\alpha}$-LA may therefore be clinically useful for treating lung cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.21
• /
• pp.9049-9058
• /
• 2014

Casticin (3', 5-dihydroxy-3, 4', 6, 7-tetramethoxyflavone) is an active compound isolated from roots, stems, leaves, fruits and seeds of a variety of plants. It is well known for its pharmacological properties and has been utilized as an anti-hyperprolactinemia, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotetective, analgesic and immunomodulatory agent. Recently, the anticancer activity of casticin has been extensively investigated. The resulkts showed that it exerts protective potential by targeting apoptosis, considered important for cancer therapies. In this article, our aim was to review the pharmacological and therapeutic applications of casticin with specific emphasis on its anticancer functions and related molecular mechanisms. Chemotherapeutic effects are dependent on multiple molecular pathways, which may provide a new perspective of casticin as a candidate anti-neoplastic drug. This review suggests that additional studies and preclinical trials are required to determine specific intracellular sites of action and derivative targets in order to fully understand the mechanisms of its antitumor activity and validate this compound as a medicinal agent for the prevention and treatment of various cancers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.12
• /
• pp.6319-6325
• /
• 2012

We previously found cytotoxic effects of tomato leaf extract (TLE) on the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. The aim of this study was to ascertain the molecular mechanisms associated with the usage of TLE as an anticancer agent by microarray analysis using mRNA from MCF-7 breast cancer cells after treatment with TLE for 1 hr and 48 hrs. Approximately 991 genes out of the 30,000 genes in the human genome were significantly (p<0.05) changed after the treatment. Within this gene set, 88 were significantly changed between the TLE treated cells and the untreated MCF-7 cells (control cells) with a cut-off fold change >2.00. In order to focus on genes that were involved in cancer cell growth, only twenty-nine genes were selected, either down-regulated or up-regulated after treatment with TLE. Microarray assay results were confirmed by analyzing 10 of the most up and down regulated genes related to cancer cells progression using real-time PCR. Treatment with TLE induced significant up-regulation in the expression of the CRYAB, PIM1, BTG1, CYR61, HIF1-${\alpha}$ and CEBP-${\beta}$ genes after 1 hr and 48 hrs, whereas the TXNIP and THBS1 genes were up-regulated after 1 hr of treatment but down-regulated after 48 hrs. In addition both the HMG1L1 and HIST2H3D genes were down-regulated after 1 hr and 48 hrs of treatment. These results demonstrate the potent activity of TLE as an anticancer agent.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.116-121
• /
• 1995

To seek for a stable supply source of taxol as an anticancer agent urgently needed for the treatment of ovarian cancer, the concentrations of taxol and cephalomannine in bark and needles of 37 yew (Taxus cuspidata S. et Z.) trees grown in 6 locations of Cheju Island were analyzed by using HPLC. A considerable variation in the content was observed in plant part and the location. The average taxol content in the needles ($220.3{\;}{\pm}{\;}56{\;}{\mu}g$ per g dry wt) was ca. 4 times hgher than that in the bark, whereas the content of cephalomannine in the needles $(353{\;}{\pm}{\;}141{\;}{\mu}g)$ was ca. 5 times higher than that in the bark. Particularly, even within Cheju Island, needles from trees grown near the coast including Sogwipo area contained much higher taxol contents than needles from trees grown at mountain locations, indicating that taxane level is affected by environmental effects. Taxol in the needles was confirmed by electrospray mass spectrometry. These results suggest that the needles of yew trees growing in Cheju Island may provide a renewable source for taxol.

• Development and Reproduction
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.225-231
• /
• 2014

Autophagy is a homeostatic degradation process that is involved in tumor development and normal development. Autophagy is induced in cancer cells in response to chemotherapeutic agents, and inhibition of autophagy results in enhanced cancer cell death or survival. Chloroquine (CQ), an anti-malarial drug, is a lysosomotropic agent and is currently used as a potential anticancer agent as well as an autophagy inhibitor. Here, we evaluate the characteristics of these dual activities of CQ using human colorectal cancer cell line HCT15. The results show that CQ inhibited cell viability in dose- and time-dependent manner in the range between 20 to 80 uM, while CQ did not show any antiproliferative activity at 5 and 10 uM. Cotreatment of CQ with antitumor agent NVP-BEZ235, a dual inhibitor of PI3K/mTOR, rescued the cell viability at low concentrations meaning that CQ acted as an autophagy inhibitor, but CQ induced the lethal effect at high concentrations. Acridine orange staining revealed that CQ at high doses induced lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP). High doses of CQ produced cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cotreatment of antioxidants, such as NAC and trolox, with high doses of CQ rescued the cell viability. These results suggest that CQ may exert its dual activities, as autophagy inhibitor or LMP inducer, in concentration-dependent manner.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.13 no.6
• /
• pp.669-674
• /
• 1998

This study was carried out particularly focusing on he antitumor effect in combination with 5-fluorocytosine(5-FC), antifungal agent, and extracellular cytosine deaminase from Chromobacterium violaceum YK 391 against U-937, K-562 and SNU-C4 cells. While the addition of 10$\mu\textrm{g}$/100 ${\mu}\ell$ of anticancer agent, 5-fluorouracil(5-FU), to U-937, K-562 and SNU-C4 caused the decrease of proliferation 90%, 75% and 93% respectively, the addition of 20 $\mu\textrm{g}$/100 ${\mu}\ell$ of the extracellular cytosine deaminase and 10 $\mu\textrm{g}$/100 ${\mu}\ell$ of antifungal agent 5-FC caused the decrease of proliferation 80%, 70% and 90%, respectively. These results, therefore, reveal that this enzyme has the similar clinical effect for considering of adjuvant antitumor effect. From the above results, the treatment of 5-FC and the cytosine deaminase was very effective and showed the possibility to remove side effects which easily occur by the treatment of 5-FU only. An extracellular cytosine deaminase.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.595-598
• /
• 2008

Emodin (3-methyl-1,6,8-trihydroxyanthraquinone) is a natural chemotherapeutic compound with diverse biological properties including an antitumor activity. Emodin, a specific inhibitor of the protein tyrosine kinase, has a number of cellular targets in related to it. Its inhibition activity affects the mammalian cell cycle regulation in specific oncogene. Practically, it has been proven to inhibit HER-2/neu tyrosine kinase expressing breast cancer cells as an anticancer agent. 2-[123I]iodoemodin has been synthesized and evaluated human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, fibroblast as a control) which express basal levels of HER-2/neu tyrosine kinase to investigate its suitability as a breast cancer imaging agent and 2-iodoemodin has been synthesized as a standard compound. The radiochemical yield of the 2-[123I]iodoemodin was about 72% and its radiochemical purity was over 97% after purification. The radioactivity of the 2-[123I]iodoemodin was increased in a time dependent manner in both cell lines and the ratio of MDA-MB-231 and MCF7 to fibroblast was 2.9 and 1.7, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.394-398
• /
• 2000

A methanol extract of the root of Peucedanum japonicum, used as a medicinal herb, showed an inhibitory effect on mammalian topoisomerase I activity. The methanol extract was suspended in ethyl acetate, and a topoisomerase I inhibitor in the organic soluble fraction was then isolated by silica gel and thin layer chromatography. The topoisomerase I inhibitory compound was indentified as falcarindiol based on the analysis of EI-MS, $^1$H and \ulcornerC NMR spectroscopy. This inhibitory showed cytotoxicity against human leukemia Jurkat T and HL60 cells with an IC\ulcorner value of 7 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml. These results suggest the possibility of falcarindiol as a new anticancer agent which can be expected to have a synergistic effect on other anticancer drugs. In addition, the present data show that falcarindiol has antifungal, yet not antibacterial, activity.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.225-232
• /
• 2015

We identified a novel Akt signaling mechanism that mediates fucoidan-induced suppression of human colon cancer cell (HT29) proliferation and anticancer effects. Fucoidan treatment significantly inhibited growth, induced G1-phase-associated upregulation of p21WAF1 expression, and suppressed cyclin and cyclin-dependent kinase expression in HT29 colon cancer cells. Additionally, fucoidan treatment activated the Akt signaling pathway, which was inhibited by treatment with an Akt inhibitor. The inhibition of Akt activation reversed the fucoidan-induced decrease in cell proliferation, the induction of G1-phase-associated p21WAF1 expression, and the reduction in cell cycle regulatory protein expression. Intraperitoneal injection of fucoidan reduced tumor volume; this enhanced antitumor efficacy was associated with induction of apoptosis and decreased angiogenesis. These data suggest that the activation of Akt signaling is involved in the growth inhibition of colon cancer cells treated with fucoidan. Thus, fucoidan may serve as a potential therapeutic agent for colon cancer.