• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.1284-1288
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• 2005

The methanol extract of Houttuynia cordata repressed the expression of tyrosinase gene of Bl6 mouse melanoma cell containing tyrosinase promoter. The extract repressed expression of tyrosinase gene by about 13$\%$ and 45$\%$ at 10$\mu$g/mL and 100 $\mu$g/mL, respectively. In the MTT assay, the same extract exhibited very low cytotoxicity at 1$\mu$g/mL, 10$\mu$g/mL, and 100 $\mu$g/mL, respectively. The fractions of ethyl acetate, butyl alcohol, and water did not showed the repressive effect on the expression of tyrosinase gone, but methylene chloride fraction layer repressed highly at 10$\mu$g/mL and 100$\mu$g/mL.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.690-696
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• 2006

Houttuynia cordata Thunb, well known as 'E-Sung-Cho' in Korea, is a traditional medicinal plant generally used in Oriental medicine therapy. In the present study, we investigated the effect of water extract of H. cordafa (WEHC) on the growth of human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells. Exposure of MCF-7 cells to WEHC resulted in growth inhibition and apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner as measured by MTT assay and fluorescent microscope. The anti-proliferative effect of WEHC was associated with a dose-dependent up-regulation of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 in a p53-independent fashion. We found WEHC decreased the levels of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthease (iNOS) expression without significant changes in the expression of COX-1 , which was correlated with a decrease in prostaglandin $E_2{\;}(PGE_2)$ synthesis. Taken together, these findings provide important new insights into the possible molecular mechanisms of the anti-cancer activity of H. cordata.