• 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.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.10
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• pp.759-765
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• 2014

N-myc downstream-regulated gene 2 (NDRG2), which is known to have tumor suppressor functions, is frequently down-regulated in breast cancers and potentially involved in preventing the migration and invasion of malignant tumor cells. In the present study, we examined the inhibitory effects of NDRG2 overexpression, specifically focusing on the role of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in the migration of breast cancer cells. NDRG2 overexpression in MDA-MB-231 cells inhibited the expression of the COX-2 mRNA and protein, the transcriptional activity of COX-2, and prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$) production, which were induced by a treatment with phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA). Nuclear transcription factor-${\kappa}B$ (NF-${\kappa}B$) signaling attenuated by NDRG2 expression resulted in a decrease in PMA-induced COX-2 expression. Interestingly, the inhibition of COX-2 strongly suppressed PMA-stimulated migration and invasion in MDA-MB-231-NDRG2 cells. Moreover, siRNA-mediated knockdown of NDRG2 in MCF7 cells increased the COX-2 mRNA and protein expression levels and the PMA-induced COX-2 expression levels. Consistent with these results, the migration and invasion of MCF7 cells treated with NDRG2 siRNA were significantly enhanced following treatment with PMA. Taken together, our data show that the inhibition of NF-${\kappa}B$ signaling by NDRG2 expression is able to suppress cell migration and invasion through the down-regulation of COX-2 expression.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2019.10a
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• pp.89-89
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• 2019

Several studies report the anticancer effect of Glycyrrhiza glabra (G. glabra), Glycyrrhiza uralensis (G. uralensis) and their compounds. However, the anticancer effect of Glycyrrhiza cultivar roots are limited. In this study, we compared the anticancer effect of Glycyrrhiza cultivar (Wongam and Shinwongam) extracts with G. glabra and G. uralensis extracts in breast cancer cell lines. Freeze dried Glycyrrhiza root extracts were dissolved in cell culture media at 2 mg/mL and filtered by $0.2{\mu}m$ filter. Glycyrrhiza root extracts were serially diluted at the concentrations of $10{\mu}g/mL$, $100{\mu}g/mL$, $200{\mu}g/mL$, $400{\mu}g/mL$, $800{\mu}g/mL$, $1000{\mu}g/mL$ and $2000{\mu}g/mL$. MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells were treated with different concentrations of Glycyrrhiza root extracts and the cell viability was measured using MTT assay. In MCF-7 cells, G. glabra showed no significant difference with Wongam and showed significant difference with Shinwongam at $1000{\mu}g/mL$ (G. glabra 101.2% and Shinwongam 82.68%) and $2000{\mu}g/mL$ (G. glabra 83.07% and Shinwongam 54.05%). G. uralensis showed significant difference with Wongam at $2000{\mu}g/mL$ (G. uralensis 66.48% and Wongam 95.02%) and showed no significant difference with Shinwongam. In MDA-MB-231 cells, G. glabra showed no significant difference with both Wongam and Shinwongam. G. uralensis showed significant difference with Wongam at $2000{\mu}g/mL$ (G. uralensis 72.59% and Wongam 93.47%) and showed no significant difference with Shinwongam. In conclusion, the current study demonstrated that G, glabra and G. uralensis compared with Wongam, and Shinwongam at low concentrations ($10{\mu}g/mL{\sim}800{\mu}g/mL$) display similar cytotoxic potency.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.347-356
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• 2006

It is reported that a fermented soybean food, Doenjang, has srong antimutagenic and cytotoxic effect on cancer cells. This study investigated the effect of Chungkookjang, another traditional popular Korean soybean fermented food, on growth of cancer cells: HL-60, SNU-638 and MCF-7, and also its in vivo antitumorigenic effect in DMBA-induced mammary tumor rat model. For the in vitro study, Chungkookjang and steamed soybeans were extracted with ethanol and sequentially fractioned with 5 kinds of solvents differing in grades of polarity such as hexane, dichloromethane, ethylacetate, butanol and water. Almost all Chungkookjang extracts significantly inhibited the growth of HL-60 (human leukemic cancer cell), SNU-638 (human gastric cancer cell) and MCF-7 (human breast cancer cell) when compared to steamed soybean extracts. Butanol fraction of Chungkookjang extract especially showed a remarkable inhibitory effect in all the three kinds of cancer cells. To induce a mammary gland tumor, DMBA (50 mg/BW) was administered to 50 day-old female rats and followed by Chungkookjang or steamed soybean supplemented diets. Freezedried Chungkookjang powder (20% of diet in wet weight) was added to AIN-93G based diet for the Chungkookjang group of rats. Likewise, steamed soybean powder containing equal protein content to that of Chungkookjang powder was supplemented to soybean group of rats. At 13 weeks later, the mammary tumor incidence, average tumor number and tumor weight a rat were lower in Chungkookjang group compared to the control or soybean group. In conclusion, Chungkookjang showed a strong inhibitory effect on cancer cell growth in vitro, as well as a more preventive effect against chemically induced mammary tumorigenesis in vivo, while steamed soybeans did not. Therefore, these results suggest that Chungkookjang acquire its anticancer activity through the fermentation process.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2007

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of mycelia of Lentinus edoes mushroom-cultured Astragalus membranaceus Bunge (LAM) on proliferation of cancer cell lines (Hep3B, MCF-7 and HeLa), sarcoma 180 (S-180), and anti-allergy. In an anti-cancer test using Hep3B (hepatic cancer cell), MCF-7 (breast cancer cell) and HeLa (uterine cancer cell), LAM extract showed higher antiproliferating effect than that of Astragalus membranaceus Bunge (AM) extract. In an anti-cancer testing using Hep3B cells and MCF-7 cells, LAM extract showed growth-inhibitory effect of 65.23% at 3 mg/mL and 69.23% at 5 mg/mL, respectively. In an anti-cancer testing using HeLa cells, LAM extract showed growth-inhibitory effect of 42.01% at 5 mg/mL. In addition, LAM showed the tumor suppressive effect in mice injected with S-180 cells. The growth-inhibitory rates against tumor cells were 47% for LAM and 37% for AM. LAM inhibited histamine release from rat peritoneal mast cells activated by compound 48/80. These results suggest that Lentinus edodes mushroom-cultured herb has an antiproliferating effect against cancer cell lines (Hep3B, MCF-7 and HeLa), S-180 tumor and will be beneficial in the treatment of allergic reaction.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.63 no.2
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• pp.85-93
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• 2019

A panel of chalcone-sulphonamide hybrids has been designed by tethering appropriate sulphonamide scaffold with substituted chalcones as a multi-target drug for anticancer screening. Chalcones were prepared by Claisen-Schmidt condensation reaction of a substituted aldehyde with para aminoacetophenone. All the synthesized compounds were evaluated against selected five cancer cell lines, MCF-7 (Breast cancer), DU-145 (Human prostate Carcinoma), HCT-15 (Colon cancer), NCIH-522 (stage 2, adenocarcinoma; non-small cell lung cancer) and HT-3 (Human cervical cancer). Most of the synthesized chalcone-sulphonamide hybrids showed amended cytotoxic activity against various cancer cell lines which may be attributed to the linkage of sulphonamide with chalcone skeleton. The synthesized compounds were characterized by FT-IR, $^1H$ NMR, $^{13}C$ NMR and HR-LCMS and spectral study assert the structures of synthesized sulphonamide-chalcone hybrids.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.220-226
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• 1996

To investigate the effect of long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on breast cancer cell growth, estrogen-dependent MCF-7 human breast cancer cells were cultured serum-free DMEM media containing 0.5$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml of differnet kinds of fatty acids; linoleic acid(LA), arachidonic acid(AA), eicosapentaenoic acid(EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid acid(DHA) and 1, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5and 1.0ng/ml 17$\beta$-estradiol as well as 10$\mu\textrm{g}$/mi insulin and 1.25 mg/ml delipidized bovine serum albumin for 3 days. Cell growth monitored by MTT assay was lower in DHA and EPA treatments as compared to LA treatment, but not with AA treatment. Estrogen concentrations at which cell growth was initially stimulated were 0.1ng/ml for LA and DHA treatments and 0.2ng/ml for EPA and AA treatments, but the degree of stimulation was 25~30% lower in DHA and EPA treatments than in LA treatment. Fatty acid analysis showed that each fatty acid in culture medium was well incoporated into celluar lipid. Protein kinase C activity of cells was most elevated in LA treatment from 2 to 8 hours of culture followed by DHA, EPA, and AA treatments. It is concluded that inhibitions of n-3 DHA and EPA on breast cancer cell growth as compard with n-6 LA is mediated via changes in membrane fatty acid composition reducing estrogen sensitivity and increasing protein kinase C activity.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.14
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• pp.5727-5731
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• 2015

Background: There is a long standing interest in natural compounds especially those with a high polyphenolic content and high scavenging activity for hazardous free radicals. Cornus mas (CM) fruit is well known for its antioxidant activities; however, its toxicity against human cancers needs to be addressed. Here, we investigated selective anticancer effects of CM on different human cancer cells. Materials and Methods: A hydro-alcoholic extract of CM (HECM) was prepared and total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were determined by colorimetric assays. Antioxidant activity was assessed with respectto DPPH radical scavenging. MTT assays were used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of different doses of CM (0, 5, 20, 100, 250, 500, $1000{\mu}g/ml$) towards A549 (lung non small cell cancer), MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma), SKOV3 (ovarian cancer) and PC-3 (prostate adenocarcinoma) cells. Results: Significant (P<0.05) or very significant (P<0.001) differences were observed in comparison to negative controls at all tested doses ($5-1000{\mu}g/ml$). In all cancer cells, HECM reduced the cell viability to values below 26%, even at the lowest doses. In all cases, $IC_{50}$ was obtained at doses below $5{\mu}g/ml$. The mean growth inhibition was 81.8%, 81.9%, 81.6% and 79.3% in SKOV3, MCF-7, PC-3 and A549 cells, respectively. Conclusions: Altogether, to our best knowledge, this is a first study that evaluated toxicity of a HECM with high antioxidant activity in different human cancer cells in vitro. Our results indicated that a hydro-alcoholic extract of CM possesses high potency to inhibit proliferation of different tumor cells in a dose independent manner, suggesting that an optimal biological dose is more important and relevant than a maximally tolerated one.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.129-143
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• 2016

The present work reports a facile, rapid and an eco-friendly method for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Luffa acutangula (L. acutangula) leaves extract and their antibacterial and cytotoxic effects. The synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). Additionally the topography, morphology and the elemental composition of the particles were determined by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy dispersive spectrophotometric (EDS) technique and the measured particle sizes from SEM micrographs are in the range of 12.5 to 24.5nm. The in-vitro antimicrobial activity of the synthesized nanoparticles was high against gram positive Staphylococcus aureus and moderate against gram negative Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. Further, the cytotoxic effects of synthesized AgNPs were evaluated against Human Breast Cancer (MCF 7) cell line.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.368-372
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• 1994

Three more unusual macrolides in addition to concnamycin B were isolated from the mycelium of Streptomyces sp. strain Bal6. These four compounds showed a potent cytotoxity to hunian cancer cell lines, SNU-1 (stomach cancer cell line), SNU-354 (liver cancer cell line), MCF- 7 (breast cancer cell line) and KB-3-1 (oral epidermoid carcinoma cell line). Interestingly, these compounds confered slight differential cytotoxity on RHEK-1, a human epidermal keratinocyte cell line immotalized by AD12-SV40 hybrid virus and RHEK-1/pSV$_{2}$ ras which was resulted from H-ras transfomation of RHEK-1. These compounds were determined to be concanamycin A, conca- namycin E and 0-methyl concanamycin B by NMR and other spectral analysis.