• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.2993-2999
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• 2014

Saccharina japonica is a family member of Phaeophyceae (brown macro-alga) and extensively cultivated in China, Japan and Korea. Here, the potential anti-cancer effect of n-hexane fraction of S. japonica was evaluated in SK-Hep1 human hepatocellular carcinoma cells. The N-hexane fraction reduced cell viability and increased the numbers of apoptotic cells in a both dose- and time-dependent manner. Apoptosis was activated by both caspase-dependent and independent pathways. The caspase-dependent cell death pathway is mediated by cell surface death receptors and activated caspase-8 amplified the apoptotic signal either through direct activation of downstream caspase-3 or pro-apoptotic proteins (Bad, Bax and Bak) subsequently leading to the release of cytochrome c. On the other hand, caspase-independent apoptosis appeared mediated by disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential and translocation of AIF to the nucleus where they induced chromatin condensation and/or large-scale DNA fragmentation. In addition, the n-hexane fraction induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-stress and cell cycle arrest. The results suggested that potential anti-cancer effects of n-hexane extract from S. japonica on SK-Hep1 cells.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.705-710
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• 2009

Sodium butyrate (NaBt), a naturally occurring short chain fatty acid derived from carbohydrate metabolism in the gut, is known to exhibit strong anti-cancer potentials in various human cancer cells; however, its action mechanism is poorly understood. In the present study, we demonstrated that NaBt up-regulates levels of E-cadherin, a key cell adhesion molecule implicated as a tumor suppressor, in a cell type-specific manner. Although levels of p21, a potential activator for E-cadherin expression, were also up-regulated by treatment with NaBt in several types of cells, it does not seem to be associated with the activation of E-cadherin in the NaBt-treated cells. Instead, the data from promoter analysis suggest that NaBt up-regulates expression of E-cadherin at the transcription level by enhancing its promoter strength via a CCAAT-box. The elevated E-cadherin in the presence of NaBt was primarily localized at the cell-cell contacts, converting Hep3B cells into a more differentiated form.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.280-285
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• 2009

Both fresh Codonopsis lanceolata and lactic acid bacteria fermented Codonopsis lanceolata were extracted with water at $100^{\circ}C$, and tested for anticancer activity using several human cancer cell lines. The fermented extracts inhibited the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cells up to 90%, compared to 75% for fresh Codonopsis lanceolata. The extracts of cytotoxicity on human normal lung cells (HEK293) were as low as 15%. Especially, human hepatocellular carcinoma cell were more efficiently inhibited than other cells. This extract also inhibited $\alpha$-glucosidase activity up to 60% at 1.0mg/$m{\ell}$. This fermented extracts showed the inhibition potency on tyrosinase by 25% at 1.0mg/$m{\ell}$. From the results, the fermented Codonopsis lanceolata enhanced several biological activities up to $20{\sim}30%$, compared to those from fresh Codonopsis lanceolata. It implies that fermentation process could be one of useful methods of utilizing low quality Codonopsis lanceolata. Because this process could yield high amounts of biologically active compounds by the help of microbial growth.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.93-99
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• 2008

Human cyclin D3 gene (CCND3) located on 6p21.1 is important for the regulation of the G1-S phase transition of the cell cycle by modulating the activity of the cyclin-dependent kinases Cdk4 and Cdk6. Because little is known about the effect of cyclin D3 in various human cancers, we evaluated the intricate relationship between expression of cyclin D3 and the process of HCC development using immunohis tochemistry and TUNEL assay on 43 paraffin embedded tissues. Cyclin D3 immunoreactivity was more frequently observed in the tumors with high histologic grade and the tumors with metastasis, and more frequently expressed in HCCs with cirrhotic background and gain of 6p21.1 when compared with those with non-neoplastic tissue. Apoptotic cells were more common in tumor with cirrhotic background, amplification of 6p21.1 and expression of cyclin D3 when compared with HCCs with lower level of cyclin D3 expression. Also, we observed that some of the cyclin D3 positive cell and apoptotic cell were co-localized. From these results, it is suggested that over-expression of cyclin D3 may contribute to more rapid cell turn-over in the background of HCC, and balance between proliferation and apoptosis is a role in the progression of HCC with cirrhotic background.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.15-27
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• 2020

Objectives : We selected three herb-combined remedies, Bigihwan (BGH), Daechilgitang (DCGT) and Mokwhyangbinranghwan (MHBRH), through Donguibogam text-mining analysis, and evaluated their anti-cancer effects on human hepatocellular carcinoma Hep3B cells. Methods : Cytotoxicity was assessed by an MTT assay. Apoptosis rate, autophagy and ROS level were detected by flow cytometry. The autophagy was also observed by Cyto-ID staining fluorescence microscopy. The expression of autophagy, mitophagy and pexophagy regulatory proteins was detected by Western blot analysis. Results : BGH showed the strongest effect among the three prescriptions in inhibiting Hep3B cell viability, which was associated with the induction of apoptosis and autophagy. Autophagy blockers improved cell viability and reduced apoptosis after BGH and DCGT treatments, indicating that autophagy by these prescriptions enhanced Hep3B cells against their cytotoxicity. However, MHBRH enhanced the reduction of cell viability and apoptosis by autophagy blockers. Induction of autophagy by BGH treatment was associated with mitophagy due to mitochondrial dysfunction than DCGT and MHBRH-treated cells. In addition, induction of apoptosis by BGH treatment was ROS-dependent and showed the possibility of pexophagy involvement. Conclusion : Although further studies need to be conducted to study the efficacy and mechanism of accurate anticancer activity, the present results will serve as important sources of understanding the mechanism of action of herbal remedies prescribed for liver disease as documented in Donguibogam.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.12
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• pp.935-949
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• 2022

Liver cancer has a high prevalence, with majority of the cases presenting as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The prognosis of metastatic HCC has hardly improved over the past decade, highlighting the necessity for liver cancer research. Studies have reported the ability of the KiSS1 gene to inhibit the growth or metastasis of liver cancer, but contradictory research results are also emerging. We, therefore, sought to investigate the effects of KiSS1 on growth and migration in human HCC cells. HepG2 human HCC cells were infected with lentivirus particles containing KiSS1. The overexpression of KiSS1 resulted in an increased proliferation rate of HCC cells. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunoblotting revealed increased Akt activity, and downregulation of the G1/S phase cell cycle inhibitors. A significant increase in tumor spheroid formation with upregulation of β-catenin and CD133 was also observed. KiSS1 overexpression promoted the migratory, invasive ability, and metastatic capacity of the hepatocarcinoma cell line, and these effects were associated with changes in the expressions of epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT)- related genes such as E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and slug. KiSS1 overexpression also resulted in dramatically increased tumor growth in the xenograft mouse model, and upregulation of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Ki-67 in the HCC tumors. Furthermore, KiSS1 increased the angiogenic capacity by upregulation of the vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) and CD31. Based on these observations, we infer that KiSS1 not only induces HCC proliferation, but also increases the metastatic potential by increasing the migratory ability and angiogenic capacity.

• 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.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.179-186
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• 2009

Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) is a bioaccumulative, persistent, and toxic pollutant. HCB is one of the 12 priority of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) intended for global action by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Governing Council. POPs are organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes. Some of HCB is ubiquitous in air, water, soil, and biological matrices, as well as in major environmental compartments. HCB has effects on various organs such as thyroid, bone, skin, kidneys and blood cells and especially, revealed strong toxicity to liver. In this study, we identified genes related to hepatotoxiciy induced by HCB in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells using microarray and gene ontology (GO) analysis. Through microarray analysis, we identified 96 up- and 617 down-regulated genes changed by more than 1.5-fold by HCB. And after GO analysis, we determined several key pathways which known as related to hepatotoxicity such as metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450, complement and coagulation cascades, and tight junction. Thus, our present study suggests that genes expressed by HCB may provide a clue for hepatotoxic mechanism of HCB and gene expression profiling by toxicogenomic analysis also affords promising opportunities to reveal potential new mechanistic markers of toxicity.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.48-56
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• 2006

Objectives : This study is aimed to elucidate anti-hepatoma activity of Coptis Chinensis Extract (CCE) and evaluate its effect on proliferation of human hepatoma Hep G2 cells. Methods : To identify CCE and control the quality, we performed fingerprinting by high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). To investigate effects of CCE on anti-hepatoma activity, we measured cytotoxicity against Hep G2 cells compared with treatment of paclitaxel and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). To examine the mechanism of inhibitory effect of CCE on Hep G2 cell proliferation, cell cycle distribution was evaluated using fluorescent activated cell sorter (FACS) Result : CCE showed a significant effect that arrests Hep G2 cells at the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. CCE combined with paclitaxel inhibited synergistically cell growth of Hep G2 cells. Conclusion : CCE may present anticancer effects through inhibition of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell proliferation via G2/M arrest, and may be a useful anticancer agent for HCC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10875-10878
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• 2015

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is an important surface receptor with N-glycans in its extracellular domain, whose glycosylation is essential for its function, especially in tumor cells. Here, we demonstrated that polylactosamine is markedly increased in H7721 hepatocellular carcinoma cells after treatment with EGF, while it apparently declined after exposure to all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA). In the study of the enzymatic mechanism of this phenomenon, we explored changes in the expression of poly-N-acetyllactosamine (PLN) branching glycosyltransferases using RT-PCR. Among the four glycosyltransferases with altered expression, GnT-V was most elevated by EGF, while GnT-V and B3GNT2 were most declined by ATRA. Next, we conducted co-immunoprecipitation experiments to test whether B3GNT2 and EGFR associate with each other. We observed that EGFR is a B3GNT2-targeting protein in H7721 cells. Taken together, these findings indicated that the altered expression of B3GNT2 will remodel the PLN stucture of EGFR in H7721 cells, which may modify downstream signal transduction.