• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.15
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• pp.6247-6251
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• 2014

Background: The aim of the present study was to investigate the involvement of emodin on the growth of human breast cancer MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells and the estrogen (E2) signal pathway in vitro. Materials and Methods: MTT assays were used to detect the effects of emodin on E2 induced proliferation of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. Flow cytometry (FCM) was applied to determine the effect of emodin on E2-induced apoptosis of MCF-7 cells. Western blotting allowed detection of the effects of emodin on the expression of estrogen receptor ${\alpha}$, cyclin D1 and B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) and phosphatidylinostiol 3-kinases (PI3K). Luciferase assays were emplyed to assess transcriptional activity of $ER{\alpha}$. Results: Emodin could inhibit E2-induced MCF-7 cell proliferation and anti-apoptosis effects, and arrest the cell cycle in G0/G1 phase, further blocking the effect of E2 on expression and transcriptional activity of $ER{\alpha}$. Moreover, Emodin influenced the ER ${\alpha}$ genomic pathway via downregulation of cyclin D1 and Bcl-2 protein expression, and influenced the non-genomic pathway via decreased PI3K/Akt protein expression. Conclusions: These findings indicate that emodin exerts inhibitory effects on MCF-7 cell proliferation via inhibiting both non-genomic and genomic pathways.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.209-213
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• 2001

Treatment of oral cancers with chemotherapeutic agents are evaluated as an effective method for remission to reduce cancer proliferation nowadays. But, minimization of side-effects such as bone marrow suppression, gastrointestinal toxicity and renal damage is another problem to be solved. Thus, a possible approach to develop a clinically applicable chemotherapeutic agents is to screen anticancer activity among traditional medicinal plants which have been used for thousands of years with very low side-effects in orient. In this study we focused on anti-oral cancer activities of momordin, which was medicinal plant extracts that was revealed anticancer activities, on KB cell(oral cancer cell). The results were as follow : 1. Momordin showed the excellent anti-oral cancer activity against KB cells. Obtained IC50 value of Momordin was $10.4{\mu}g/ml$. 2. When KB cells were treated with Momordin, dose and time dependent DNA fragmentation of KB cells were observed. DNA fragmentation was initiated on three days at the concentration of $20{\mu}g/ml$ Momordin. 3. Flow cytometry showed dose-dependent apoptotic cell increase of KB cells on Momordin. 18.55% apoptotic cell were observed up to 72 hours at the concentration of $20{\mu}g/ml$ of Momordin. 4. Momordin induced nonspecific apoptosis without specific cell cycle arrest. 5. Through MTT assay, DNA fragmentation assay and flow cytometric analysis. anticancer effect of Momordin against KB cell was induce of apoptotic cell death.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.76 no.3
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• pp.114-119
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• 2014

Background: Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a major biologically active component of green tea, has anti-cancer activity in human and animal models. We investigated the schedule-dependent effect of EGCG and paclitaxel on growth of NCI-H460 non-small cell lung cancer cells. Methods: To investigate the combined effect of EGCG (E) and paclitaxel (P), combination indices (CIs) were calculated, and cell cycle analysis was performed. For the effect on cell apoptosis, western blot analysis was also performed. Results: CI analysis demonstrated that both concurrent and sequential E ${\rightarrow}$ P treatments had antagonistic effects (CIs >1.0), but sequential P ${\rightarrow}$ E had synergistic effects (CIs <1.0), on the growth inhibition of NCI-H460 cells. In the cell cycle analysis, although paclitaxel induced $G_2/M$ cell cycle arrest and increased the sub-G1 fraction, concurrent EGCG and paclitaxel treatments did not have any additive or synergistic effects compared with the paclitaxel treatment alone. However, western blot analysis demonstrated that sequential P ${\rightarrow}$ E treatment decreased the expression of Bcl-2 and procaspase-3 and increased poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage; while minimal effects were seen with concurrent or sequential E ${\rightarrow}$ P treatments. Conclusion: Concurrent or sequential E ${\rightarrow}$ P treatment had opposite effects to P ${\rightarrow}$ E treatment, where P ${\rightarrow}$ E treatment showed a synergistic effect on growth inhibition of NCI-H460 cells by inducing apoptosis. Thus, the efficacy of EGCG and paclitaxel combination treatment seems to be schedule-dependent.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1316-1320
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• 2018

The effects of a green tea extract (GTE) were examined using the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line. Cell viability assays using 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays revealed that GTE had a significant cytotoxic effect on MCF-7 cells, depending on the concentration of GTE. Western blotting of p53 and its related proteins, p21/cip1 and CDK2, after GTE treatment revealed that a significant and concentration dependent increase in p53 protein in response to GTE. The levels of p21/cip1 proteins were also increased at low GTE concentrations were significantly increased even at the highest GTE concentrations. However, the level of CDK2 was significantly decreased by treatment with high concentrations of GTE. These results indicate that treatment with GTE increased the p53 level in MCF-7 cells, and this activation of p53 markedly elevated the levels of p21/cip1proteins, which, in turn, inhibited CDK2 expression in the MCF-7 cells. The inhibition of CDK2 expression might then affect cell cycle progression. Subsequent FACS analysis indicated that GTE treatment the gradually increased progression of the MCF-7 to the G1 phase. These results clearly demonstrate that the anti-tumor effect of GTE in MCF-7 cells is regulated by p53 arrest of the MCF-7 cells at the G1 stage of cell cycle.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.158-164
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• 2008

Arsenic trioxide (ATO) affects many biological processes such as cell proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation and angiogenesis. L-buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) is an inhibitor of GSH synthesis. We tested whether ATO reduced the viability of lung cancer A549 cells in vitro, and investigated the in vitro effect of the combination of ATO and BSO on cell viability in relation to apoptosis and the cell cycle. ATO caused a dose-dependant decrease of viability of A549 cells with an $IC_{50}$ of more than $50{\mu}m$. Low doses of ATO or BSO ($1{\sim}10{\mu}m$) alone did not induce cell death. However, combined treatment depleted GSH content and induced apoptosis, loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential (${\Delta}{\Psi}_m$) and cell cycle arrest in G2. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) increased or decreased depending on the concentration of ATO. In addition, BSO generally increased ROS in ATO-treated A549 cells. ROS levels were at least in part related to apoptosis in cells treated with ATO and/or BSO. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that A549 lung cells are very resistant to ATO, and that BSO synergizes with clinically achievable concentration of ATO. Our results suggest that combination treatment with ATO and BSO may be useful for treating lung cancer.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1449-1455
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• 2004

Bufonis venenum (dried toad venom; Chinese name, Chan su) is a traditional Chinese medicine obtained from the skin venom gland of the toad. It has long been used in treating arrhythmia and other heart diseases in China and other Asian countries. Additionally, Bufonis venenum has been reported to selectively inhibit the growth of various lines of human cancer cells. In the present study, it was examined the effects of extract of Bufonis venenum (EBV) on the growth of human bladder carcinoma cell line T24 in order to investigate the anti-proliferative mechanism and induction of apoptosis by EBV. Treatment of T24 cells to EBV resulted in the growth inhibition, morphological change and induction of apoptotic cell death in a dose-dependent manner. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that EBV treatment caused G2/M phase arrest of the cell cycle and down-regulation of cyclin A, cyclin B1 and Cdc2, which was associated with a marked up-regulation of cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) inhibitor p21 (WAF1/CIP1) in a p53-independent manner. The Cdc25C expression was also significantly inhibited by EBV treatment, however Wee1 kinase expression was not affected. The induction of apoptotic cell death by EBV was connected with down-regulation of anti-apoptotic Bcl-XS/L expression without alteration pro-apoptotic Bax expression. Taken together, these findings suggest that EBV may be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for the control of human bladder carcinorma cells and further studies will be needed to identify the active compounds that confer the anti-cancer activity of EBV.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.184-194
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• 2020

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors represent a novel class of anticancer agents, which can be used to inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in several types of cancer cells. In this study, we investigated the anticancer activity of MHY4381, a newly synthesized HDAC inhibitor, against human prostate cancer cell lines and compared its efficacy with that of suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), a well-known HDAC inhibitor. We assessed cell viability, apoptosis, cell cycle regulation, and other biological effects in the prostate cancer cells. We also evaluated a possible mechanism of MHY4381 on the apoptotic cell death pathway. The IC₅₀ value of MHY4381 was lower in DU145 cells (IC₅₀=0.31 µM) than in LNCaP (IC₅₀=0.85 µM) and PC-3 cells (IC₅₀=5.23 µM). In addition, the IC₅₀ values of MHY4381 measured in this assay were significantly lower than those of SAHA against prostate cancer cell lines. MHY4381 increased the levels of acetylated histones H3 and H4 and reduced the expression of HDAC proteins in the prostate cancer cell lines. MHY4381 increased G2/M phase arrest in DU145 cells, and G1 arrest in LNCaP cells. It also activated reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, which induced apoptosis in the DU145 and LNCaP cells by increasing the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 and releasing cytochrome c into the cytoplasm. Our results indicated that MHY4381 preferentially results in antitumor effects in DU145 and LNCaP cells via mitochondria-mediated apoptosis and ROS-facilitated cell death pathway, and therefore can be used as a promising prostate cancer therapeutic.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.75 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2013

Background: In cancer cells, autophagy is generally induced as a pro-survival mechanism in response to treatment-associated genotoxic and metabolic stress. Thus, concurrent autophagy inhibition can be expected to have a synergistic effect with chemotherapy on cancer cell death. Monensin, a polyether antibiotic, is known as an autophagy inhibitor, which interferes with the fusion of autophagosome and lysosome. There have been a few reports of its effect in combination with anticancer drugs. We performed this study to investigate whether erlotinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor, or rapamycin, an mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor, is effective in combination therapy with monensin in non-small cell lung cancer cells. Methods: NCI-H1299 cells were treated with rapamycin or erlotinib, with or without monensin pretreatment, and then subjected to growth inhibition assay, apoptosis analysis by flow cytometry, and cell cycle analysis on the basis of the DNA contents histogram. Finally, a Western blot analysis was done to examine the changes of proteins related to apoptosis and cell cycle control. Results: Monensin synergistically increases growth inhibition and apoptosis induced by rapamycin or erlotinib. The number of cells in the sub-$G_1$ phase increases noticeably after the combination treatment. Increase of proapoptotic proteins, including bax, cleaved caspase 3, and cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, and decrease of anti-apoptotic proteins, bcl-2 and bcl-xL, are augmented by the combination treatment with monensin. The promoters of cell cycle progression, notch3 and skp2, decrease and p21, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, accumulates within the cell during this process. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that concurrent autophagy inhibition could have a role in lung cancer treatment.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.63 no.3
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• pp.30.1-30.8
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• 2023

Metformin is a treatment used widely for non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus with few side effects and acts by inhibiting hepatic gluconeogenesis and glucose absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. Lymphoma is one of the most common hematological malignancies in dogs. Chemotherapy is used mainly on lymphoma, but further research on developing anticancer drugs for lymphoma is needed because of its severe side effects. This study examined the anticancer effects of metformin alone and in combination with 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), a glucose analog, on EL4 cells (mouse T cell lymphoma). Metformin reduced the metabolic activity of EL4 cells and showed an additive effect when combined with 2-DG. In addition, cell death was confirmed using a trypan blue exclusion test, Hochest 33342/propidium iodide (PI) staining, and Annexin V/PI staining. An analysis of the cell cycle and mitochondria membrane potential (MMP) to investigate the mechanism of action showed that metformin stopped the G2/M phase of EL4 cells, and metformin + 2-DG decreased MMP. Metformin exhibited anticancer effects as a G2/M phase arrest mechanism in EL4 cells and showed additive effects when combined with 2-DG via MMP reduction. Unlike cytotoxic chemotherapeutic anticancer drugs, metformin and 2-DG are related to cellular glucose metabolism and have little toxicity. Therefore, metformin and 2-DG can be an alternative to reduce the toxicity caused by chemotherapeutic anticancer drugs. Nevertheless, research is needed to verify the in vivo efficacy of metformin and 2-DG before they can be used in lymphoma treatments.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7043-7048
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• 2014

Inhibition of heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) leads to inappropriate processing of proteins involved in DNA damage repair pathways after DNA damage and may enhance tumor cell radio- and chemotherapy sensitivity. To investigate the potentiation of antitumor efficacy of lidamycin (LDM), an enediyne agent by the Hsp90 inhibitorgeldanamycin (GDM), and possible mechanisms, we have determined effects on ovarian cancer SKOV-3, hepatoma Bel-7402 and HepG2 cells by MTT assay, apoptosis assay, and cell cycle analysis. DNA damage was investigated with H2AX C-terminal phosphorylation (${\gamma}H2AX$) assays. We found that GDM synergistically sensitized SKOV-3 and Bel-7402 cells to the enediyne LDM, and this was accompanied by increased apoptosis. GDM pretreatment resulted in a greater LDM-induced DNA damage and reduced DNA repair as compared with LDM alone. However, in HepG2 cells GDM did not show significant sensitizing effects both in MTT assay and in DNA damage repair. Abrogation of LDM-induced $G_2/M$ arrest by GDM was found in SKOV-3 but not in HepG2 cells. Furthermore, the expression of ATM, related to DNA damage repair responses, was also decreased by GDM in SKOV-3 and Bel-7402 cells but not in HepG2 cells. These results demonstrate that Hsp90 inhibitors may potentiate the antitumor efficacy of LDM, possibly by reducing the repair of LDM-induced DNA damage.