• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.155-159
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• 2013

Honokiol, a naturally occurring neolignan mainly found in Magnolia species, has exhibited a potential anti-proliferative activity in human cancer cells. However, the growth inhibitory activity against hepatocellular carcinoma cells and the underlying molecular mechanisms has been poorly determined. The present study was designed to examine the anti-proliferative effect of honokiol in SK-HEP-1 human hepatocellular cancer cells. Honokiol exerted anti-proliferative activity with cell-cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase and sequential induction of apoptotic cell death. The cell-cycle arrest was well correlated with the down-regulation of checkpoint proteins including cyclin D1, cyclin A, cyclin E, CDK4, PCNA, retinoblastoma protein (Rb), and c-Myc. The increase of sub-G1 peak by the higher concentration of honokiol ($75{\mu}M$) was closely related to the induction of apoptosis, which was evidenced by decreased expression of Bcl-2, Bid, and caspase-9. Hohokiol was also found to attenuate the activation of signaling proteins in the Akt/mTOR and ERK pathways. These findings suggest that the anti-proliferative effect of honokiol was associated in part with the induction of cell-cycle arrest, apoptosis, and dow-nregulation of Akt/mTOR signaling pathways in human hepatocellular cancer cells.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.204-208
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• 2007

Chaga mushroom extract is well known as immune modulator and anti-cancer agent. However, the molecular mechanism by which Chaga exerts cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of cancer cells is poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrated anti-proliferative effects of Chaga extract on murine melanoma B16 cells. Chaga extract dose-dependently inhibited cell growth along with the arrest of G0/G1 phase and the induction of apoptotic cell death. Treatment with Chaga extract resulted in a decrease of cyclin E, cyclin D1, cdk 2, cdk 4 expression levels. Furthermore, in vivo inoculation study of B16 melanoma cells into Balb/c mice Chaga extract markedly suppressed the metastatic growth of tumor cells (6 folds, p<0.05,). These results indicate that Chaga mushroom extract induces apoptosis of B16 melanoma cells through arrest of G0/G1 phase in cell cycle.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.322-325
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• 2008

The aim of present study was to investigate the effects of kaempferol on cellular proliferation and cell cycle arrest and explore the mechanism for these effects in human breast carcinoma MDA-MB-453 cells. Cells were treated with kaempferol at various concentrations (ranging from 1 to $200\;{\mu}M$) for 24 and 48 hrs. Kaempferol significantly inhibited cancer cell growth in cells exposed to 50 and $10\;{\mu}M$ of kaempferol and incubated for 24 and 48 hrs, respectively. Exposure to kaempferol resulted in cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase. Of the G2/M-phase related proteins, kaempferol down-regulated CDK1 and cyclin A and B in cells exposed to kaempferol. In addition, small DNA fragments at the sub-G0 phase were increased by up to 23.12 and 31.90% at 10 and $50\;{\mu}M$ incubated for 24 and 48 hrs, respectively. The kaempferol-induced apoptosis was associated with the up-regulation of p53. In addition, the phosphorylation of p53 at the Ser-15 residue was observed with kaempferol. Kaempferol inhibits cell proliferation by disrupting the cell cycle, which is strongly associated with the induction of arrest at G2/M phase and may induce apoptosis via p53 phosphorylation in human breast carcinoma MDA-MB-453 cells.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.15
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• pp.6513-6519
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• 2015

Background: Recent attention on chemotherapeutic intervention against cancer has been focused on discovering and developing phytochemicals as anticancer agents with improved efficacy, low drug resistance and toxicity, low cost and limited adverse side effects. In this study, we investigated the effects of Curcuma C20-dialdehyde on growth, apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in colon and cervical cancer cell lines. Materials and Methods: Antiproliferative, apoptosis induction, and cell cycle arrest activities of Curcuma C20-dialdehyde were determined by WST cell proliferation assay, flow cytometric Alexa fluor 488-annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) staining and PI staining, respectively. Results: Curcuma C20 dialdehyde suppressed the proliferation of HCT116, HT29 and HeLa cells, with IC50 values of $65.4{\pm}1.74{\mu}g/ml$, $58.4{\pm}5.20{\mu}g/ml$ and $72.0{\pm}0.03{\mu}g/ml$, respectively, with 72 h exposure. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that percentages of early apoptotic cells increased in a dose-dependent manner upon exposure to Curcuma C20-dialdehyde. Furthermore, exposure to lower concentrations of this compound significantly induced cell cycle arrest at G1 phase for both HCT116 and HT29 cells, while higher concentrations increased sub-G1 populations. However, the concentrations used in this study could not induce cell cycle arrest but rather induced apoptotic cell death in HeLa cells. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the phytochemical Curcuma C20-dialdehyde may be a potential antineoplastic agent for colon and cervical cancer chemotherapy and/or chemoprevention. Further studies are needed to characterize the drug target or mode of action of the Curcuma C20-dialdehyde as an anticancer agent.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.16-21
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• 2012

Honokiol, a naturally occurring neolignan mainly found in Magnolia species, has been shown to have the anti-angiogenic, anti-invasive and cancer chemopreventive activities, but the molecular mechanism of actions has not been fully elucidated yet. In the present study, we investigated the effect of honokiol on the growth inhibitory activity in cultured SNU-638 human gastric cancer cells. We found that honokiol exerted potent antiproliferative activity against SNU-638 cells. Honokiol also arrested the cell cycle progression at the G0/G1 phase and induced the apoptotic cell death in a concentration-dependent manner. The cell cycle arrest was well correlated with the downregulation of Rb, cyclin D1, cyclin A, cyclin E, and CDK4 expression, and the induction of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27. The increase of sub-G1 peak by honokiol was closely related to the induction of apoptosis, which was evidenced by the induction of DNA fragmentation, the cleavage of poly(ADPribose) polymerase, and the sequential activation of caspase cascade. These findings suggest the cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis might be one possible mechanism of actions for the anti-proliferative activity of honokiol in human gastric cancer cell.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.1043-1048
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• 2012

The COPS3 gene has stimulating effect on cell proliferation and progression of osteosarcomas and related cells. However, the features of COPS3 and its potential application as a therapeutic target in other cancers has not yet been studied. In this study, therefore, the effect of COPS3 silencing via COPS3 siRNA on lung cancer cell proliferation was examined. Expression levels of COPS3 gene in COPS3 siRNA infected cells and control siRNA infected cells were compared with real time PCR and Western blot analysis. Cell proliferation levels were comprehensively analyzed by MTT, BrdU incorporationy, and colony formation assays. For mechanistic assessment the effects of COPS3 silencing on cell cycle and apoptosis were analyzed using flow cytometry. Results showed that successful silencing of the COPS3 gene at both translational and transcriptional levels significantly reduced the proliferation and colony formation by lung cancer cells (p<0.01). Flow cytometry showed cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase after COPS3 silencing, and more importantly, apoptosis was induced as a result of COPS3 knockdown, which negatively affected cell survival. Therefore, these results provide another piece of important evidence that the COPS3 gene expressed in lung cancer cells may play a critical role in stimulating proliferation. Down-regulation of COPS3 could significantly inhibit lung cancer cell growth, which was most likely mediated via induction of cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase and apoptosis.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.125-134
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• 2015

Background: Black ginseng (Ginseng Radix nigra, BG) refers to the ginseng steamed for nine times and fine roots (hairy roots) of that is called fine black ginseng (FBG). It is known that the content of saponin of FBG is higher than that of BG. Therefore, in this study, we examined antitumor effects against MCF-7 breast cancer cells to target the FBG extract and its main component, ginsenoside Rg5 (Rg5). Methods: Action mechanism was determined by MTT assay, cell cycle assay and western blot analysis. Results: The results from MTT assay showed that MCF-7 cell proliferation was inhibited by Rg5 treatment for 24, 48 and 72 h in a dose-dependent manner. Rg5 at different concentrations (0, 25, 50 and $100{\mu}M$), induced cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase through regulation of cell cycle-related proteins in MCF-7 cells. As shown in the results from western blot analysis, Rg5 increased expression of p53, $p21^{WAF1/CIP1}$ and $p15^{INK4B}$ and decreased expression of Cyclin D1, Cyclin E2 and CDK4. Expression of apoptosiserelated proteins including Bax, PARP and Cytochrome c was also regulated by Rg5. These results indicate that Rg5 stimulated cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase via regulation of cell cycle-associated proteins in MCF-7 cells. Conclusion: Rg5 promotes breast cancer cell apoptosis in a multi-path manner with higher potency compared to 20(S)-ginsenoside Rg3 (Rg3) in MCF-7 (HER2/ER+) and MDA-MB-453 (HER2+/ER) human breast cancer cell lines, and this suggests that Rg5 might be an effective natural new material in improving breast cancer.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.607-612
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• 2003

To elucidate the action mechanism of MCS-C2, a novel analogue of toyocamycin and sangivamycin, its effect on the expression of cell cycle-related proteins in the human myelocytic leukemia cell line HL-60 was examined using Western blotting and a flow cytometric analysis. MCS-C2, a selective inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases, was found to inhibit cell growth in a time- and dose-dependent manner, and inhibits cell cycle progression by inducing the arrest at G1 and G2/M phases, in HL-60 cells. The flow cytometric analysis revealed an appreciable arrest of cells in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle after treatment with MCS-C2. The HL-60 cell population increased gradually from 13% at 0 h, to 28% at 12 h in the G2/M phase, after exposure to $2{\;}\mu\textrm{M}$ MCS-C2. Furthermore, Western blot analysis demonstrated that MCS-C2 induced the cell cycle arrest at G1 phase through the inhibition of pRb phosphorylation. Hypophosphorylated pRb accumulated after treatment with $5{\;}\mu\textrm{M}$ MCS-C2 for 12 h, whereas, the level of hyperphosphorylated pRb was reduced. Thus, treatment of the cell with MCS-C2 suppressed the hyperphosphorylated form of pRb with a commensurate increase in the hypophosphorylated form.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.11
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• pp.725-730
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• 2009

Cyclin E1 (CCNE1), a positive regulator of the cell cycle, controls the transition of cells from G1 to S phase. In numerous human tumors, however, CCNE1 expression is frequently dysregulated, while the mechanism leading to its dysregulation remains incompletely defined. Herein, we showed that CCNE1 expression was subject to post-transcriptional regulation by a microRNA miR-16-1. This was evident at protein level of CCNE1 as well as its mRNA level. Further evident by dual luciferase reporter assay revealed that two evolutionary conserved binding sites on 3' UTR of CCNE1 were the direct functional target sites. Moreover, we showed that miR-16-1 induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest by targeting CCNE1 and siRNA against CCNE1 partially phenocopied miR-16-1-induced cell cycle phenotype whereas substantially rescued anti-miR-16-1- induced phenotype. Together, all these results demonstrate that miR-16-1 plays a vital role in modulating cellular process in human cancers and indicate the therapeutic potential of miR-16-1 in cancer therapy.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.95-101
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• 2007

Resveratrol (3,5,4’-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene), a naturally occurring phytoallexin abundant in grapes and several plants, has been shown to be active in inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis in several human cancer cell lines. On the line of the biological activity of resveratrol, a variety of resveratrol analogs were synthesized and evaluated for their growth inhibitory effects against several human cancer cell lines. In the present study, we found that one of the resveratrol analogs, 3,4,5-trimethoxy-4’-bromo-cis-stilbene, markedly suppressed human colon cancer cell proliferation (EC$_{50}$ = 0.01 ${\mu}$g/ml), and the inhibitory activity was superior to its corresponding trans-isomer (EC$_{50}$ = 1.6 ${\mu}$g/ml) and resveratrol (EC$_{50}$ = 18.7 ${\mu}$g/ml). Prompted by the strong growth inhibitory activity in cultured human colon cancer cells (Col2), we investigated its mechanism of action. 3,4,5-Trimethoxy-4’-bromo-cis-stilbene induced arrest of cell cycle progression at G2/M phase and increased at sub-G1 phase DNA contents of the cell cycle in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Colony formation was also inhibited in a dose-dependent manner, indicating the inhibitory activity of the compound on cell proliferation. Moreover, the morphological changes and condensation of the cellular DNA by the treatment of the compound were well correlated with the induction of apoptosis. These data suggest the potential of 3,4,5-trimethoxy-4’-bromo-cis-stilbene might serve as a cancer chemotherapeutic or chemopreventive agent by virtue of arresting the cell cycle and inducing apoptosis for the human colon cancer cells.