• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.2409-2414
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• 2012

Objective: Traditional Chinese herbal medicines have a very long history. Rosa roxburghii Tratt and Fagopyrum cymosum are two examples of plants which are reputed to have benefits in improving immune responses, enhancing digestive ability and demonstrating anti-aging effects. Some evidence indicates that herbal medicine soups containing extracts from the two in combination have efficacy in treating malignant tumors. However, the underlying mechanisms are far from well understood. The present study was therefore undertaken to evaluate anticancer effects and explore molecular mechanisms in vitro. Methods: Proliferation and apoptosis were assessed with three carcinoma cell lines (human esophageal squamous carcinoma CaEs-17, human gastric carcinoma SGC-7901 and pulmonary carcinoma A549) by MTT assay and flow cytometry, respectively, after exposure to extract from Rosa roxburghii Tratt (CL) and extract from Fagopyrum cymosum (FR). $IC_{30}$ of CL and FR were obtained by MTT assay. Tumor cells were divided into four groups : control with no exposure to CL or FR; CL with $IC_{30}$ CL; FR with $IC_{30}$ FR; CL+FR group with 1/2 ($IC_{30}$ CL + $IC_{30}$ FR). RT-PCR and Western blot analysis were used to detect the expression of Ki-67, Bax and Bcl-2 at mRNA and protein levels. Results: Compared with the CL or FR groups, the combination of CL+FR showed significant inhibition of cell growth and increase in apoptosis; the mRNA and protein expression levels of Ki-67 and Bcl-2 in CL+FR group were all greatly decreased, while the expression of Bax was markedly increased. Conclusions: These results indicate that the synergistic antitumor effects of combination of CL and FR are related to inhibition of proliferation and induction of apoptosis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.15
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• pp.6581-6589
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• 2015

Background: Previously, stingless bee (Trigona spp.) products from East Kalimantan, Indonesia, were successfully screened for in vitro antiproliferative activity against human cancer derived cell lines. It was established that propolis from T. incisa presented the highest in vitro cytotoxicity against the SW620 colon cancer cell line (6% cell survival in $20{\mu}g/mL$). Materials and Methods: Propolis from T. incisa was extracted with methanol and further partitioned with n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol. The in vitro cytotoxicity of the extracts was assessed by the MTT assay against human colon (SW620), liver (Hep-G2), gastric (KATO-III), lung (Chago) and breast (BT474) cancer derived cell lines. The active fractions were further enriched by silica gel quick column, absorption and size exclusion chromatography. The purity of each fraction was checked by thin layer chromatography. Cytotoxicity in BT-474 cells induced by cardanol compared to doxorubicin were evaluated by MTT assay, induction of cell cycle arrest and cell death by flow cytometric analysis of propidium iodide and annexin-V stained cells. Results: A cardol isomer was found to be the major compound in one active fraction (F45) of T. incisa propolis, with a cytotoxicity against the SW620 ($IC_{50}$ of $4.51{\pm}0.76{\mu}g/mL$), KATO-III (IC50 of $6.06{\pm}0.39{\mu}g/mL$), Hep-G2 ($IC_{50}$ of $0.71{\pm}0.22{\mu}g/mL$), Chago I ($IC_{50}$ of $0.81{\pm}0.18{\mu}g/mL$) and BT474 (IC50 of $4.28{\pm}0.14{\mu}g/mL$) cell lines. Early apoptosis (programmed cell death) of SW620 cells was induced by the cardol containing F45 fraction at the $IC_{50}$ and $IC_{80}$ concentrations, respectively, within 2-6 h of incubation. In addition, the F45 fraction induced cell cycle arrest at the G1 subphase. Conclusions: Indonesian stingless bee (T. incisa) propolis had moderately potent in vitro anticancer activity on human cancer derived cell lines. Cardol or 5-pentadecyl resorcinol was identified as a major active compound and induced apoptosis in SW620 cells in an early period (${\leq}6h$) and cell cycle arrest at the G1 subphase. Thus, cardol is a potential candidate for cancer chemotherapy.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.197-202
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• 2013

The objective of this study is to evaluate the anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory activities of plum (Formosa, Oishiwase, Soldam) for the future development of functional food products. To determine the anti-inflammatory effect of different types of plums, the inhibitory effect of plum extracts on nitric oxide (NO) production were measured in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated Raw 264.7 mouse macrophage cells and human cancer cell lines (A549, Ags, Hela, Hep3B). Among the three different plum cultivars, Oishiwase at a concentration of 1 mg/mL showed the highest inhibitory effects on NO production (%) in Raw 264.7 macrophage cells. Moreover, Oishiwase exhibited a higher anti-cancer activity against A549 (renal carcinoma, 50%), Ags (gastric carcinoma, 35%), HeLa (cervical carcinoma, 50%), and Hep3B (hepatocellular carcinoma, 31%) at a concentration on 1 mg/mL, respectively, compared to Formosa and Soldam. Our findings suggest Oishiwase plum extracts may serve as potential dietary sources of natural health promoting substances.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2006

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a group of positional and geometric isomers of linoleic acid that have been used to reduce the incidence, growth and metastasis of breast, colon, prostate and gastric cancer in animals. CLA could reduce tumor growth by altering angiogenesis; a process requiring associated angiogenic factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). In this study, we determined whether CLA could modulate the expression of VEGF in murine mammary tumor cells and adipocytes. The c9, t11-CLA isomer reduced VEGF transcripts and protein when mammary tumor cells were stimulated with PMA. That isomer also reduced VEGF expression in un stimulated mouse 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Since VEGF can be regulated by cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), we determined whether CLA could alter COX-2 enzyme expression and $PGE_2$ production. The c9, t11-CLA isomer reduced not only COX-2 enzyme expression but also $PGE_2$ production. Thus, c9, t11-CLA could modulate neovascularization by alteration of VEGF expression from mammary tumor cells and adipocytes by reducing COX-2 metabolites.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.202-210
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• 2020

Fluoxetine is used widely as an antidepressant for the treatment of cancer-related depression, but has been reported to also have anti-cancer activity. In this study, we investigated the cytotoxicity of fluoxetine to human gastric adenocarcinoma cells; as shown by the MTT assay, fluoxetine induced cell death. Subsequently, cells were treated with 10 or 20 µM fluoxetine for 24 h and analyzed. Apoptosis was confirmed by the increased number of early apoptotic cells, shown by Annexin V- propidium iodide staining. Nuclear condensation was visualized by DAPI staining. A significant increase in the expression of cleaved PARP was observed by western blotting. The pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK was used to detect the extent of caspase-dependent cell death. The induction of autophagy was determined by the formation of acidic vesicular organelles (AVOs), which was visualized by acridine orange staining, and the increased expression of autophagy markers, such as LC3B, Beclin 1, and p62/SQSTM 1, observed by western blotting. The expression of upstream proteins, such as p-Akt and p-mTOR, were decreased. Autophagic degradation was evaluated by using bafilomycin, an inhibitor of late-stage autophagy. Bafilomycin did not significantly enhance LC3B expression induced by fluoxetine, which suggested autophagic degradation was impaired. In addition, the co-administration of the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine and fluoxetine significantly increased fluoxetine-induced apoptosis, with decreased p-Akt and markedly increased death receptor 4 and 5 expression. Our results suggested that fluoxetine simultaneously induced both protective autophagy and apoptosis and that the inhibition of autophagy enhanced fluoxetine-induced apoptosis through increased death receptor expression.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.129-136
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• 1997

Helicobacter pylori is a spiral-shaped, microaerophilic human gastric pathogen causing chronic-active gastritis in association with duodenal ulcer and gastric cancer. To investigate the possibility of H. pylori outer membrane proteins (OMPS) as the oral vaccine antigens, sarcosine-insoluble outer membrane fraction has been prepared from H. pylori NCTC 11637. The major OMPs having apparent molecular masses of 62 kDa, 54 kDa and 33 kDa were detected by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), which were identified as urease B subunit (UreB), heat shock protein (Hsp54 kDa) and urease A subunit (UreA), respectively. Minor protein bands of 57 kDa, 52 kDa, 40 kDa, 36 kDa and 31 kDa were also observed. The antigenicity of H. pylori OMPs and antigenic cross-reactivity among the strains were determined by immunoblot analysis using anti-H. pylori OMPs antisera or intestinal lavage solutions. The results showed that UreB, Hsp54 kDa, UreA and 40 kDa proteins vigorously stimulated mucosal immune response rather than systemic immunity. From this results, these proteins seemed to be useful as the antigen candidates for the oral vaccine. The immunoblotting results with surface proteins from eight isolated H. pylori strains were similar to that of H. pylori NCTC 11637. The IgA which had been arised from oral administration of H. pylori OMPs, was able to bind H. pylori whole-cells.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.11
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• pp.1589-1594
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• 2016

Piperine [(E,E)-5-(3,4-methtylenedioxyphenyl)-2,4-pentadienolypiperidide] is a principal of Piperaceae, including Piper nigrum L. and Piper longum Linn., which has been used as a spice and traditional medicine. In this study, we investigated whether or not piperine has anti-cancer effects on AGS human gastric cancer cells. The results demonstrated that piperine not only inhibited proliferation using MTT assay but also induced apoptotic bodies using DAPI assay in a dose-dependent manner in response to piperine. Expression levels of p53, Bax (pro-apoptotic), cleaved caspase-9, and cleaved-PARP increased, whereas expression levels of Bcl-2, XIAP (anti-apoptotic), and Akt decreased in a dose-dependent manner compared with the control by western blotting analysis. To identify the connection between phospo-Akt and Bcl-2 family in response to piperine, LY249002 (Akt inhibitor) was treated with piperine ($150{\mu}M$). The results were shown that expression of phospo-Akt was reduced whereas expression of Bax and cleaved-PARP increased in a dose-dependent manner. These results indicate that piperine induced apoptosis in AGS cells and may serve as a chemopreventive or therapeutic agent for human gastric cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.5339-5343
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• 2012

The induction of apoptosis in target cells is a key mechanism for most anti-tumor therapies. Bufalin is a cardiotonic steroid that has the potential to induce differentiation and apoptosis of tumor cells. Research on bufalin has so far mainly involved leukemia, prostate cancer, gastric cancer and liver cancer, and has been confined to in vitro studies. The bufadienolides bufalin and cinobufagin have been shown to induce apoptosis in a wide spectrum of cancer cell. The present article reviews the anticancer effects of bufalin. It induces apoptosis of lung cancer cells via the PI3K/Akt pathway and also suppressed the proliferation of human non-small cell lung cancer A549 cell line in a time and dose dependent manner. Bufalin, bufotalin and gamabufotalin, key bufadienolides, significantly sensitize human breast cancer cells with differing ER-alpha status to apoptosis induction by the TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL). In addition, bufadienolides induce prostate cancer cell apoptosis more significantly than that in breast epithelial cell lines. Similar effects have been observed with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) but the detailed molecular mechanisms of inducing apoptosis in this case are still unclear. Bufalin exerts profound effects on leukemia therapy in vitro. Results of multiple studies indicate that bufalin has marked anti-tumor activities through its ability to induce apoptosis. Large-scale randomized, double-blind, placebo or positive drug parallel controlled studies are now required to confirm the efficacy and apoptosis-inducing potential of bufalin in various cancers in the cliniucal setting.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.142-145
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• 2009

The cytotoxic activity against human cancer cells and anti-tumor effect in Balb/c mice of a 70% ethanol extract from masou salmon (MSE) was investigated. The cancer cell lines including human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), human lung carcinoma (A549), human hepatoblastoma (HepG2), human gastric carcinoma (AGS), human cervical adenocarcinoma (HeLa) and transformed primary human embryonal kidney (293) exposed to MSE decreased cell viability as indicated by the MTT assay. The MSE shows significant cytotoxicity on MCF-7, A549, HepG2, AGS and HeLa cells, and are more active than 293 cells. The treatment with 1 mg/mL MSE resulted in 9.2%, 12.7%, 16.6%, and 16.9% cell survival against A549, MCF-7, HepG2, and AGS cells, respectively. Moreover, anticancer effect in vivo of MSE was tested in the animal system using Balb/c mice transplanted sarcoma-180 cells. MSE showed inhibition of tumor growth and the rate of inhibition was 44.7% and 55.7% at the 25 mg/kg body weight and 250 mg/kg body weight, respectively. Thus, we suggest that MSE could be a beneficial material for human cancer prevention.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.133-146
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• 2003

This study was performed to investigate the in vitro and in vivo anticancer effects of persimmon leaf extracts on human gastric cancer cells. In vitro anticancer effects of persimmon leaf extracts (water extract at 8$0^{\circ}C$ for 3 hours, water extract at room temperature for 48 hours, 50% ethanol extract at 8$0^{\circ}C$ for 3 hours, 50% ethanol extract at room temperature for 48 hours, 75% ethanol extract at 8$0^{\circ}C$ for 3 hours and 75% ethanol extract at room temperature for 48 hours) on SNU16 (Korean gastric cancer cell) were investigated by MTT assay. Persimmon leaf extracts exhibited strong in vitro anticancer effects. We found that the higher the ethanol content of the solvent, the stronger the in vitro anticancer effects. Extraction yields, contents of flavonoids, vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin E were measured. We found that the higher the ethanol content of the solvent, the higher the extraction yields and the contents of flavonoids, vitamin A and vitamin E. Among persimmon leaf extracts, 75% ethanol 8$0^{\circ}C$ extract showed the highest extraction yield, the highest contents of flavonoids, vitamin A and vitamin E and exhibitied the strongest in vitro anticancer effect on SNU16. Therefore, 75% ethanol 8$0^{\circ}C$ extract was chosen as the material to investigate in vivo anticancer effects. In vivo anticancer effect of persimmon leaf 75% ethanol 8$0^{\circ}C$ extract was investigated in SNU16 transplanted nude mice. Twenty five female nude mice (BALB/c) were blocked into five groups according to body weight and raised for 4 weeks with diets containing 4% (w/w), 8% (w/w) persimmon leaf 75% ethanol 8$0^{\circ}C$ extract, with IT (intratumoral) injection treatment with 1.65 mg/100 $\mu$1, 3.3 mg/100 $\mu$1 concentration every other day 3 weeks after SNU16 was transplanted. Persimmon 75% ethanol 8$0^{\circ}C$ extract significantly lowered tumor weight and tumor volume in SNU16 transplanted nude mice. Tumor weight and tumor volume in all experimental groups were significantly lower than those in the control group. Helper T cell (CD4) levels of mice injected with 3.3 mg/100 $\mu$1 extract significantly increased. Cytotoxic T cell (CD8) levels in all experimental groups significantly increased and helper/cytotoxic T cell ratios in all experimental groups significantly decreased. Natural killer cell and MHC class II molecule in all experimental groups significantly increased. In conclusion, persimmon leaf 75% ethanol 8$0^{\circ}C$ extract exhibited strong in vitro and in vivo anticancer effects against SNU16 cells and it increased cytotoxic T cell, natural killer cell and MHC classII molecule in experimental groups in SNU16 transplanted nude mice.