• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6869-6874
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• 2013

Background: Vascular endothelial growth factor and matrix metalloproteinases are two important factors for angiogenesis associated with breast cancer growth and progression. The present study was aimed to examine the effects of tamoxifen and tranilast drugs singly or in combination on proliferation of breast cancer cells and also to evaluate VEGF and MMP-9 expression and VEGF secretion levels. Materials and Methods: Human breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, were treated with tamoxifen and/or tranilast alone or in combination and percentage cell survival and proliferative activity were evaluated using LDH leakage and MTT assays. mRNA expression and protein levels were examined by real-time RT-PCR and ELISA assay, respectively. Results: LDH and MTT assays showed that the combined treatment of tamoxifen and tranilast resulted in a significant decrease in cell viability and cell proliferation compared with tamoxifen or tranilast treatment alone, with significant decrease in VEGF mRNA and protein levels. We also found that tamoxifen as a single agent rarely increased MMP-9 expression. A decrease in MMP-9 expression was seen after treatment with tranilast alone and in the combined treatment MMP-9 mRNA level was decreased. Conclusions: This combination treatment can able to inhibit growth, proliferation and angiogenesis of breast cancer cells.

• BMB Reports
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• v.50 no.12
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• pp.615-620
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• 2017

Fibronectin (FN) plays important roles in the EMT in a variety of cancer cell types. However, the mechanism by which FN expression is regulated in tamoxifen-resistant (TamR) breast cancer cells has not yet been fully elucidated. Aberrant FN expression was associated with poor prognosis in patients with luminal type A breast cancer. In addition, FN was upregulated in TamR cells. To investigate the mechanism by which FN expression is regulated, we assessed the levels of phosphorylated Akt, JNK, and STAT3 and found that they were all increased in TamR cells. Induction of FN expression was dampened by LY294002 or AKT IV in TamR cells. Furthermore, FN expression was increased by constitutively active (CA)-Akt overexpression in tamoxifen-sensitive MCF7 (TamS) cells and colony formation of TamR cells was blocked by AKT IV treatment. Taken together, these results demonstrate that FN expression is upregulated through the PI-3K/Akt pathway in tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer cells.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2729-2734
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• 2012

Despite clinical advances in anticancer therapy, there is still a need for novel anticancer metabolites, with higher efficacy and lesser side effects. Oroxylum indicum (L.) Vent. is a small tree of the Bignoniaceae family which is well known for its food and medicinal properties. In present study, the chemopreventive properties of O. indicum hot and cold non-polar extracts (petroleum ether and chloroform) were investigated with MDA-MB-231 (cancer cells) and WRL-68 (non-tumor cells) by XTT assay. All the extracts, and particularly the petroleum ether hot extract (PHO), exhibited significantly (P<0.05) higher cytotoxicity in MDA-MB-231 when compared to WRL-68 cells. PHO was then tested for apoptosis induction in estrogen receptor (ER)-negative (MDA-MB-231) and ER-positive (MCF-7) breast cancer cells by cellular DNA fragmentation ELISA, where it proved more efficient in the MDA-MB-231 cells. Further, when PHO was tested for anti-metastatic potential in a cell migration inhibition assay, it exhibited beneficial effects. Thus non-polar extracts of O. indicum (especially PHO) can effectively target ER-negative breast cancer cells to induce apoptosis, without harming normal cells by cancer-specific cytotoxicity. Hence, it could be considered as an extract with candidate precursors to possibly harness or alleviate ER-negative breast cancer progression even in advanced stages of malignancy.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.35 no.4 s.139
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• pp.283-287
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• 2004

The effect of water extract from Cnidii Rhizoma (CRW) on proliferation of human breast cancer cells, nitric oxide production, nitric oxide synthase expression, and ornithine decarboxylase activity was tested. CRW inhibited the growth of both estrogen-dependent MCF-7 and estrogen-independent MDA-MB-23I human breast cancer cells. Lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide (NO) production was significantly reduced by CRW at the concentration of 0.5, 1.0 and 5.0 mg/ml. Expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was also suppressed with the treatment of CRW in Raw 264.7 cells. CRW inhibited induction of ornithine decarboxylase by 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, a key enzyme of polyamine biosynthesis, which is enhanced in tumour promotion. Therefore, CRW is worth further investigation with respect to breast cancer chemoprevention or therapy.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.183-200
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• 2018

In the present study silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were successfully synthesized using aqueous extract of Sargassum muticum. The aqueous extract (10%) treated with 1 mM silver nitrate solution resulted in the formation of AgNPs and the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of the formed AgNPs was recorded at 360 nm using UV-Visible spectrophotometer. The molecules involved in the formation of AgNPs were identified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), surface morphology was studied by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), SEM micrograph clearly revealed the size of the AgNPs was in the range of 40-65 nm with spherical, hexagonal in shape and poly-dispersed nature, and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD) was used to determine the crystalline structure. High positive Zeta potential (36.5 mV) of formed AgNPs indicates the stability and XRD pattern revealed the crystal structure of the AgNPs by showing the Bragg's peaks corresponding to (111), (200), (311) and (222) planes of face-centered cubic crystal phase of silver. The synthesized AgNPs exhibited effective anticancerous activity (at doses 25 and $50{\mu}g/ml$ of AgNPs) against Breast cancer cell line (MCF7).

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.244-249
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• 2012

Angelica acutiloba is one of the most intensively cultivated medicinal plants in Korea. The roots of this plant have been used as an important herbal drug, especially for the treatment of various female disorders, as the traditional therapy in Korea and other Asian countries. Consumption of its fresh leaves as a healthy vegetable has recently increased. In this study, essential oil fractions were extracted from the roots and leaves of this plant by steam distillation. Compositions of the two oils were compared by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The antibacterial activities of the essential oil were determined against three strains of Escherichia coli. DPPH radical scavenging and reducing power tests were performed to evaluateits antioxidant activities. The cytotoxic activities of the essential oil against a human breast and a uterine cancer cell line were estimated by MTT tests. Additionally, the morphological changes after treatment of the oil fraction were observed under a microscope. The essential oil fraction and its main components, Z-ligustilide and butylidene phthalide, inhibited the growth of three E. coli strains examined, with minimum inhibiting concentrations (MICs) ranging from 1.0 mg/ml to 8.0 mg/ml. Additionally, the essential oil fraction of A. acutiloba exhibited significant DPPH free radical scavenging activity and reducing power. Significant cytotoxic activities of the A. acutiloba essential oil were observed for human uterine (Hela) and breast (MCF-7) cancer cell lines.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.215-221
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• 2007

Although sanguinarine, a benzophenanthridine alkaloid, possesses anti-cancer properties against several cancer cell lines, the molecular mechanisms by which it inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis have not been clearly understood. In order to further explore the critical events leading to apoptosis in sanguinarine-treated MCF-7 human breast carcinoma cells, the following effects of sanguinarine on components of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway were examined: generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), alteration of the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and the expression changes of Bcl-2 family proteins. We show that sanguinarine-induced apoptosis is accompanied by the generation of intracellular ROS and disruption of MMP as well as an increase in pro-apoptotic Bax expression and a decrease of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL expression. The quenching of ROS generation with N-acetyl-L-cysteine, the ROS scavenger, protected the sanguinarine-elicited ROS generation, mitochondrial dysfunction, modulation of Bcl-2 family proteins, and apoptosis. Based on these results, we propose that the cellular ROS generation plays a pivotal role in the initiation of sanguinarine-triggered apoptotic death.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2765-2770
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• 2012

Background: There is a long standing interest in the identification of medicinal plants and derived natural products for developing cancer therapeutics. Here we investigated the antiproliferative properties of Melissa officinalis (MO) from Turkey on breast cancer. Methods: MO extracts were studied for cytotoxicity against breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, MDA-MB-468 and MDA-MB-231). In vitro apoptosis studies were performed by annexin V staining and flow cytometry analyses. Immunohistochemistry for Ki-67 and caspase 7 in the tumoral tissue sections of DMBA-induced mammary tumors in rats was also performed, along with TUNEL assays to detect apoptotic cells. In vivo anticancer activity testing was carried out with reference to inhibition of growth of DMBA induced mammary tumors in rats. Results: MO showed cytotoxicity against three cancer cell lines, inducing increase in Annexin-positive cells. Expression of caspase-7 protein and TUNEL positive cells were much higher in rats treated by MO, compared with the untreated control group, while expression of Ki-67 was decreased. Furthermore, in vivo studies showed that mean tumor volume inhibition ratio in MO treated group was 40% compared with the untreated rats. Conclusion: These results indicated that MO extrcts have antitumoral potential against breast cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.14
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• pp.5703-5707
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• 2015

Background: Medicinal plants, especially examples rich in polyphenolic compounds, have been suggested to be chemopreventive on account of their antioxidative properties. Melissa officinalis L. (MO), an aromatic and medicinal plant, is well known in thios context. However, toxicity against cancer cells has not been fully studied. Here, we investigated the selective anticancer effects of an MO extract (MOE) in different human cancer cells. Materials and Methods: a hydro-alcoholic extract of MO was prepared and total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were determined by colorimetric assays. Antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH radical scavenging activity. MTT assays were used to evaluate cytotoxicity of different doses of MOE (0, 5, 20, 100, 250, 500, $1000{\mu}g/ml$) towards A549 (lung non small cell cancer cells), MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma), SKOV3 (ovarian cancer cells), and PC-3 (prostate adenocarcinoma) cells. Results: Significant (P<0.01) or very significant (P<0.0001) differences were observed in comparison to negative controls at all tested doses ($5-1000{\mu}g/ml$). In all cancer cells, MOE reduced the cell viability to values below 33%, even at the lowest doses. In all cases, $IC_{50}$ values were below $5{\mu}g/ml$. The mean growth inhibition was 73.1%, 86.7%, 79.9% and 77.8% in SKOV3, MCF-7 and PC-3 and A549 cells, respectively. Conclusions: Our results indicate that a hydro-alcoholic extract of MO possess a high potency to inhibit proliferation of different tumor cells in a dose independent manner, suggesting that an optimal biological dose is more important than a maximally tolerated one. Moreover, the antiprolifreative effect of MO seems to be tumor type specific, as hormone dependant cancers were more sensitive to antitumoral effects of MOE.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.728-734
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• 2017

After being subjected to different cooking methods, small black beans (Rhynchosia nulubilis) were investigated in order to assess the effects of the retained bioactive compounds. Using uncooked, pan broiled, boiled, steamed, and pressure cooked beans, the inhibitory effects of MCF-7 cell migration were evaluated at protein concentrations of 40, 160, and $640{\mu}m/mL$, using the Boyden's chamber assay. All protein concentrations (40, 160, and $640{\mu}m/mL$) of pan broiled beans showed significant reduction (59.83, 32.48, and 21.37%, respectively) in the rate of cell migration to the lower chambers (p-value less than 0.001). Estimated cell migration rates correlated to the exponential decay between experimentally measured cell migration rates and converted samples. The range of estimated cell migration rate for each 100 mg/mL of cooked sample was as follows: pan broiled (21.16%), boiled (22.48%), steamed (22.48%), pressure cooked (29.52%), and uncooked (35.03%) beans. Our study indicated that selective modifications of cooking methods for small black beans, such as pan broiling, ameliorated the inhibitory effects of MCF-7 cell migration. This suggests that optimized cooking methods increase the nutritional contents of the cooked food.