• Journal of Life Science
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.469-476
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• 2002

The DNA topoismerase I inhibitor $\beta$-lapachone, the product of a tree from South America, is known to exhibit various biological properties, however the mechanisms of which are poorly understood. In the present report, we investigated the effects of $\beta$-lapachone on the growth of human prostate carcinoma DU-145 cells. Upon treatment with $\beta$-lapachone, a concentration-dependent inhibition of cell viability was observed and cells developed many of the hallmark features of apoptosis, including condensation of chromatin and DNA fragmentation. Flow cytometry analysis confirmed that $\beta$-lapachone increased populations of apoptotic-sub Gl phase. In addition, proteolytic cleavages of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and $\beta$-catenin protein were observed after treatment of $\beta$-lapachone. These apoptotic effects of $\beta$-lapachone in DU-145 cells were associated with marked induction of Bax protein, however the levels of Bcl-2 expression were decreased in a dose-dependent manner.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.222-226
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• 2003

Purpose: The interaction of the Fas: Fas ligand has been recognized to play an important role in radiation induced apoptosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of Fas and Fas ligand mutations, in radiation-induced apoptosis in vivo. Materials and Methods: Mice with a mutation in the Fas ($C57BL/6J-Fas^{lpr}$) and its normal control (C57BL/6J) and the Fas ligand ($C3H/HeJ-Fas^{gld}$) and its normal control (C3H/HeJ), were used in this study. Eight-week old male mice were given whole body radiation. After irradiation, the mice were killed at various time intervals, and their spleens collected. Tissue sample was stained with hematoxylin-eosin, and the numbers of apoptotic cells scored. The regulating molecules of apoptosis including the p53, Bcl-2, Bax, $Bcl-X_L\;and\;Bcl-X_s$ genes were also analyzed by Western blotting. Results: With 2.5 Gy and 10 Gy of irradiation, the levels of apoptosis were lower in the $C57BL/6J-Fas^{lpr}\;and\;C3H/HeJ-Fas^{gld}$ mice than in the control mice (p<0.05). With the expression of apoptosis regulating molecules, the Bax was increased in both the C57BL/6J and C3H/HeJ mice in response to radiation; the peak levels of Bax in the C57BL6J and C3H/HeJ were 3 and 3.3-fold higher after 8hr, respectively. However the Bax was not increased in either the $C57BL/6J-Fas^{lpr}\;or\;C3H/HeJ-Fas^{gld}$mice. The p53, Bcl-X_L,\;Bcl-X_S$and Bcl-2 showed no significant changes in the $C57BL/6J-Fas^{lpr},\;C3H/HeJ-Fas^{gld}$, C57BL/6J and C3H/HeJ mice. Conclusion: The levels of radiation-induced apoptosis were lower in the lpr and gld, than the control mice, which seemed to be related to the level of Bax activation due to the radiation in the lpr and gld mice. This result suggests that Fas/Fas L plays an important role in radiation-induced apoptosis in vivo.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1163-1169
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• 2014

Astragalus, a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine, has exhibited antitumor actions in patients. In this study, in vitro and in vivo antitumor effects of astragalus and synergistic antitumor efficacy in combination with pterostilbene were investigated. Melanoma cells were treated with pterostilbene (Pt), graduated doses of astragalus injection (AI), or these in combination. Cell viability was measured using a MTT assay. Released nucleosomes and caspase activity were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Growth inhibition in vitro and in vivo was also assessed. Analysis of variance and t tests were used for statistical analysis. Significant reduction (p<0.05) in cellular proliferation were observed with AI and AI-Pt in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. Apoptosis and caspase-3/7 activity were significantly increased by AI and AI-Pt treatment (p<0.05). In vivo, AI inhibited melanoma tumor growth, with inhibition rates ranging from 36.5 to 62.3%, by inducing apoptosis via up-regulation Bax expression and the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and down-regulating Bcl-2 expression. AI significantly inhibits the growth of melanoma in vitro and in vivo by inducing apoptosis. These data suggest that combined treatment of astragalus with pterostilbene enhances antitumor efficacy.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.40 no.12
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• pp.1654-1661
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• 2011

We investigated the effect of Angelica keiskei ethanol (AKE) extract on cell death in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. MDA-MB-231 cells were cultured in the presence 125, 150 and 175 ${\mu}g$/mL concentrations of AKE for 24 hours. MTT assays demonstrated that mitochondrial dehydrogenase activities decreased in a dose-dependent manner in MDA-MB-231 cells (p<0.05). In contrast, the proportion of dual staining with Hoechst 33342/ethidium bromide(EtBr) for cell death increased in a dose-dependent manner in MDA-MB-231 cells (p<0.05). In particular, the levels of cell death caused by apoptotic program showed marked increases in the 150 and 175 ${\mu}g$/mL AKE groups, as revealed by flow cytometry. An apoptotic suppressor gene, Bcl-2, significantly decreased at the transcript level (p<0.05). The expression levels of proapoptotic genes, both Bax and caspase 3 significantly increased (p<0.05). Furthermore, the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax mRNA which is considered to be an important indicator of apoptosis, significantly decreased in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.05). These results taken together indicate that, the AKE extract used in this study induces cell death in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.19-34
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• 2015

Objectives: This study was performed to investigate the anti-tumor effect of O. japonicus extracts on intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma cell line SNU-1079. Methods: Cholangiocarcinoma SNU-1079 cells were treated with various concentrations of O. japonicus DW and EtOH extracts ($0-300{\mu}g/ml$) for 24, 48 or 72 h. Cell viability was evaluated through a PMS/MTS assay, and the apoptosis rate was examined through ELISA assay and flow cytometry analysis. The mRNA expression of apoptosis- and cell cycle progression-related genes (Bcl-2, Mcl-1, Bax, Survivin, Cyclin D1, and p21) was evaluated using real-time PCR, and the caspase activity was examined using immunoblot analysis. Results: O. japonicus extracts inhibited cell proliferation and increased apoptosis rate in both ELISA assay and flow cytometry analysis. O. japonicus extracts decreased Bcl-2, Mcl-1, Survivin, and Cyclin D1 mRNA expression and increased Bax mRNA level. O. japonicus extracts also increased Caspase-3 activation. Overall, O. japonicus DW extracts were more effective than EtOH extracts. Conclusions: O. japonicus inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in SNU-1079 cells via mitochondria -mediated intrinsic pathway, which leads to Caspase-3 activation. The results indicate that O. japonicus is a potential therapeutic herb with anti-tumor effect against intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.5983-5987
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• 2013

Radix Tetrastigma Hemsleyani Flavone (RTHF) is widely used as a traditional herb for its detoxification and anti-inflammation activity. Recently, several studies have shown that RTHF can inhibit growth and induce apoptosis in human cancer cell lines. However, the mechanisms are not completely understood yet. In this study we investigated the potential effects of RTHF on growth and apoptosis in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells as well as its mechanisms. A549 cells were treated with RTHF at various concentrations for different times. In vitro the MTT assay showed that RTHF had obvious anti-proliferation effects on A549 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Cell morphological changes observed by inverted microscope and Hoechst33258 methods were compared with apoptotic changes observed by fluorescence microscope. Cell apoptosis inspected by flow cytometry showed significant increase in the treatment group over the control group (P<0.01). Expression of apoptosis related Bax/Bcl-2, caspases and MAPK pathway proteins were detected by Western blotting. The results showed that RTHF up-regulated the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and cle-caspase3/9, cle-PARP expression in a dose-dependent manner. Expression of p-p38 increased, p-ERK decreased significantly and that of p-JNK was little changed in the RTHF group when compared with the control group. These results suggest that RTHF might exert anti-growth and apoptosis activity against lung cancer A549 cells through activation of caspases and Bcl-2 family proteins and the MAPK pathway, therefore presenting as a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of lung cancer.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.43-56
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• 2004

Objectives : In order to investigate effects and immune improvement of distilled red-ginseng herbal Acupuncture, expression of Cox-1, Cox-2, and mRNA of Bcl-2 and Bax were analyzed in A549 cell in vivo. Survival time and expression of cytokine mRNA were measured for the mice with Sarcoma-180 induced abdominal cancer. Methods : Balb/c mouse was treated with distilled red-ginseng Herbal Acupuncture at Wisu($BL_{21}$) and Chung- wan($CV_{12}$) to investigate anti-cancer effects and immune response. Results : 1. For expression of mRNA of Cox-1 using RT-PCR, the control group and the experiment groups didn't show significant differences. For Cox-2, both experiment groups and the normal group showed significant differences. 2. For expression of mRNA of Bcl-2 using RT-PCR, experiment groups showed slight decrease compared to the control group. For Bax, no significant changes were shown between the control group and experiment groups. 3. For survival time, all of experiment groups showed 11.1% increase compared to the control group. 4. For IL-2 and IL-4 productivity using Flow cytometry, all of experiment groups didn't show any significance. 5. For IL-2 productivity using ELISA, all of experiment groups didn't show any significance. 6. For expression of cytokine mRNA using RT-PCR, significant increase of IL.-2 and IL-4 were witnessed in the experiment group II compared to the control group. Significant increase of IL-10 was shown in all off experiment groups compared to the control group. Conclusion : According to the results, we can expect that distilled red-ginseng Herbal Acupuncture may be further effccts in anti-cancer and immune improvement if increasing concentration.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.3041-3044
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• 2013

Background: The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is an inhibitor of cyclooxygenase enzymes. Recent studies have shown that aspirin could be used as an anti-tumor drug. Triptolide, the major compound extracted from the Chinese herb Tripteryglum wilfordii Hook.f, has now been shown that it can inhibit tumor growth. The aim of this study was to analyze the anti-tumor efficiency of aspirin and triptolide in cervical cancer cells. Methods: Viability of cervical cancer cell lines was assessed by the MTT method at various concentrations of aspirin and triptolide. Siha and HeLa cell apoptotic analysis was performed by flow cytometry. Real time-PCR and Western Blotting were used to analyze the expression of Bcl-2/Bax, Cyclin D1 and p16. Results: Viability in the combination group was significantly decreased as compared with either drug used alone. Expression change of Bcl-2/Bax, CyclinD1 and p16 appeared to play an important role in the synergistic killing effect on cervical cancer cell apoptosis. Conclusion: Aspirin and triptolide combination treatment may have synergistic anti-tumor effects on cervical cancer cells.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.13
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• pp.5507-5513
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• 2015

Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng (MC) has been used in traditional medicine due to its high carotenoid content. The objective of this study was to investigate mechanisms underlying apoptotic effects of MC on human MCF-7 breast cancer cells. A lycopene-enriched aril extract of MC (AE) showed cytotoxicity and antiestrogenicity to MCF-7 cells. On DAPI staining, AE induced cell shrinkage and chromatin condensation were evident. With flow cytometric analysis, AE increased the percentage of cells in an early apoptosis stage when compared with the control group. RT-PCR analysis showed AE to significantly increase the expression of the proapoptotic bax gene without effect on expression of the anti-apoptotic bcl-2 gene. Moreover, AE enhanced caspase 6, 8 and 9 activity. Taken together, we conclude that AE of MC fruit has anticancer effects on human MCF-7 breast cancer cells by induction of cell apoptosis via both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways of signaling.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.89-95
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• 2016

The present study was conduct to examine the $H_2O_2$ expression level and apoptosis-related gene expression levels inporcineskin-derived stem cell-like cells (pSSCs) after adipogenic, chondrogenic, and osteogenic differentiation induction. The pSSCs were obtained by digestion of porcine ear skin biopsy and cultured in each induction medium for 21 to 26 days to induce adipogenic, chondrogenic, and osteogenic differentiation, respectively. The $H_2O_2$ levels of pSSCs after induction culture were evaluated by staining with 2'7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate ($H_2DCFDA$). The apoptotic gene expression of pSSCs after induction culture was also estimated by RT-PCR. The pSSCs have a potential to differentiate into three mesodermal cell types (adipocytes, chondrocytes, and osteoblasts). Non-induced control and chondrogenic-induced cells were showed higher $H_2DCFDA$ intensity (P<0.05) than adipogenic- and osteogenic-induced cells. The relative expression of Bax/Bcl-2 level was significantly low (P<0.05) in adipogenic- and osteogenic-induced cells compared to non-induced control. However, there was no difference in the relative expression of Bax/Bcl-2 level among differentiation induction groups. The result of the present study shows that the apoptosis of pSSCs is not detrimentally increased by differentiation induction culture, although chondrogenic-induced pSSCs showed high ROS generation level and apoptotic index similarly to those of non-induced cells.