• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.7-15
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• 2024

Objectives : This study aimed to predict the effectiveness and potential of Schizonepeta tenuifolia as an anticancer treatment for non-small cell lung cancer through network-based pharmacology and cellular experiment. Methods : To identify the major bioactive compounds in Schizonepeta tenuifolia, we used the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems. The target genes for the cancer treatment were selected using the UniProt database and the networked using Cytoscape. We performed functional enrichment analysis based on the Gene Ontology Biological Process and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes Pathways to predict the mechanisms. To investigate the effect of Schizonepeta tenuifolia on lung cancer cell growth, we treated A549 cells, a lung cancer cell line, with different concentrations of the drug and used the MTT assay for cell viability. Results : Research has shown that the most effective mechanism of active compounds from Schizonepeta tenuifolia is through the pathway of cancer. The results of the network pharmacology analysis indicate that Schizonepeta tenuifolia has potential medicinal value as an adjuvant in anticancer treatment. The concentration-dependent inhibition of cell viability was observed on A549 cells. Furthermore, synergistic anticancer activity with Doxorubicin was also observed. Conclusions : Through a network pharmacological approach, Schizonepeta tenuifolia was predicted to have potential as an anticancer agent, and its efficacy was experimentally demonstrated using A549 cells. These findings suggest that Schizonepeta tenuifolia is a promising candidate for future research.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.1290-1298
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• 2017

Intestinal microbiota is an important factor in the development of immune defense mechanisms in the human body. Treatments with anticancer agents, such as 5-Fluorouracil, Cisplatin, and Oxaliplatin, significantly change the temporal stability and environment of intestinal bacterial flora. The anticancer treatment chemotherapy often depresses the immune system and induces side effects, such as diarrhea. This study investigated the effects anticancer agents have on the intestinal microbial ecosystems of patients with gastric cancer. An exploration of the diversity and temporal stability of the dominant bacteria was undertaken using a DGGE with the 16S rDNA gene. Researchers collected stool samples from patients zero, two and eight weeks after the patients started chemotherapy. After the treatment with anticancer agents, the bacteria strains Sphingomonas paucimobilis, Lactobacillus gasseri, Parabacteroides distasonis and Enterobacter sp. increased. This study focused on the survival of the beneficial microorganisms Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus in the intestines of cancer patients. The administration of antigastric cancer agents significantly decreased Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium populations and only moderately affected the main bacterial groups in the patients' intestinal ecosystems. The results showed the versatility of a cultivation independent-PCR DGGE analysis regarding the visual monitoring of ecological diversity and anticancer agent-induced changes in patients' complex intestinal microbial ecosystems.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.233-240
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• 2014

Epidemiology studies indicate that diet or specific dietary components can reduce the risk for cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. An underlying cause of these diseases is chronic inflammation. Dietary components that are beneficial against disease seem to have multiple mechanisms of action and many also have a common mechanism of reducing inflammation, often via the $NF{\kappa}B$ pathway. Thus, a plant based diet can contain many components that reduce inflammation and can reduce the risk for developing all three of these chronic diseases. We summarize dietary components that have been shown to reduce cancer risk and two studies that show that dietary walnut can reduce cancer growth and development. Part of the mechanism for the anticancer benefit of walnut was by suppressing the activation of $NF{\kappa}B$. In this brief review, we focus on reduction of cancer risk by dietary components and the relationship to suppression of inflammation. However, it should be remembered that most dietary components have multiple beneficial mechanisms of action that can be additive and that suppression of chronic inflammation should reduce the risk for all three chronic diseases.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.586-593
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• 2009

Since conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) was identified as a principal anticancer component from ground beef in the 1980s, CLA research has discovered that CLA has a wide range of biologically beneficial effects. Clinical studies with CLA are on the rise, and it is apparent that CLA may not be as effective in humans as in rodents, in particular its anti-obesity aspect. In addition, research with regard to other conjugated fatty acids as well as CLA metabolites is still in its infancy. Investigation of bioactivities for other conjugated fatty acids and CLA metabolites may help to extend the understanding of CLA and its mechanisms of actions. This may pose an opportunity to use CLA more efficiently and expand the future use of other conjugated fatty acids as pharmacological agents to assist current treatments.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.65 no.2
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• pp.83-88
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• 2022

Although it has been intensively studied over the past few decades, pancreatic cancer remains one of the most lethal cancers. Eriodictyol, a plant-derived flavonoid mainly found in citrus fruits, exerts diverse biological effects, including anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, we investigated the anticancer properties of eriodictyol and its mechanisms of action in pancreatic cancer cells. In both SNU213 and Panc-1 cells, eriodictyol decreased viability, induced apoptosis, and decreased clonogenicity. In addition, eriodictyol treatment increased the phosphorylation level of JNK and decreased the phosphorylation levels of ERK, FAK, and AKT. These observations provide insight into the molecular mechanisms of eriodictyol-induced apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cell lines, and could contribute to the development of candidate compounds for treating pancreatic cancer.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.28-49
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• 2020

The efficacy and side effects associated with anticancer drugs have attracted an extensive research focus. Onconephrology is an evolving field of nephrology that deals with the study of kidney diseases in cancer patients. Most renal diseases in cancer patients are unique, and management of renal disease can be challenging especially in the presence of continuing use of the nephrotoxic drugs. Cisplatin is one of the most important chemotherapeutic agents used in the treatment of various malignancies, such as head, neck, ovarian, and cervical cancers. The major limitation in the clinical use of cisplatin is its tendency to induce adverse effects, such as nephrotoxicity. Recently, plant-derived phytochemicals have emerged as novel agents providing protection against cisplatin-induced renal cytotoxicity. Owing to the diversity of phytochemicals, they cover a wide spectrum of therapeutic indications in cancer and inflammation and have been a productive source of lead compounds for the development of novel medications. Of these agents, the effectiveness of triterpenoids, isolated from various medicinal plants, against cisplatin-induced renal cytotoxicity has been reported most frequently compared to other phytochemicals. Triterpenes are one of the most numerous and diverse groups of plant natural products. Triterpenes ameliorate cisplatin-induced renal damage through multiple pathways by inhibiting reactive oxygen species, inflammation, down-regulation of the MAPK, apoptosis, and NF-κB signaling pathways and upregulation of Nrf2-mediated antioxidant defense mechanisms. Here, we reviewed recent findings on the natural compounds with protective potential in cisplatin-induced renal cytotoxicity, provided an overview of the protective effects and mechanisms that have been identified to date, and discussed strategies to reduce renal cytotoxicity induced by anticancer drugs.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.41-48
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• 2022

Ulva compressa Linnaeus (UCL) is a green algae seaweed that performs photosynthesis and is used as a food material in some Asian regions including Korea. It is known to be the dominant species in copper ion-contaminated seas, and many studies on copper ion resistant mechanisms have been reported. UCL is known to have an excellent antioxidant effect, but limited information is available regarding its other physiological activities. In this study, we investigated the anticancer activity of 30% prethanol extracts of Ulva compressa Linnaeus (30% PeUCL) and the underlying mechanisms of its activity on human FaDu hypopharyngeal squamous carcinoma cells. The 30% PeUCL extracts suppressed FaDu cell viability without affecting normal cells (L929), as determined by MTT and viability assays. Furthermore, the 30% PeUCL extracts induced apoptosis, as determined by DAPI staining. The 30% PeUCL extracts inhibited colony formation effectively as well as wound-healing of FaDu cells, even at noncytotoxic concentrations. In addition, 30% PeUCL extracts induced apoptosis significantly through proteolytic cleavage of caspase-3, -7, and -9, and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, and by downregulation of Bcl-2 and upregulation of Bax in FaDu cells, as determined by Western blot analysis. Collectively, these results suggest that the inhibitory effect of 30% PeUCL extracts on the growth of oral cancer cells, colony formation and wound-healing may be mediated by caspase- and mitochondrial-dependent apoptotic pathways in human FaDu hypopharyngeal squamous carcinoma cells. Therefore, 30% PeUCL extracts can be administered as a natural chemotherapeutic drug for the treatment of human oral cancers.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1408-1413
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• 2005

Elevated expression of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) has been implicated in various biological aspects of neoplasia such as tumor cell adhesion, metastasis, blocking of cellular immune mechanisms, and antiapoptosis function. Thus, the CEA could be an important target for anticancer therapy. In this study, we developed Tetrahymena group 1 intron-based trans-splicing ribozymes that can specifically target and replace CEA RNA. To this end, we first determined which regions of the CEA RNA were accessible to ribozymes by employing an RNA mapping strategy that was based on a trans-splicing ribozyme library. Next, we assessed the ribozyme activities by comparing the trans-splicing activities of several ribozymes that targeted different regions of the CEA RNA, and then the ribozyme that could target the most accessible site was observed to be the most active with high fidelity in vitro. Moreover, the specific trans-splicing ribozyme was found to react with and altered the target CEA transcripts in mammalian cells with high fidelity. These results suggest that the Tetrahymena ribozyme can be utilized to replace CEA RNAs in tumors with a new RNA-harboring anticancer activity, thereby hopefully reverting the malignant phenotype.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.2807-2811
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• 2015

Scorpion venom peptides recently have attracted attention as alternative chemotherapeutic agents that may overcome the limitations of current drugs, providing specific cytotoxicity for cancer cells with an ability to bypass multidrug-resistance mechanisms, additive effects in combination therapy and safety. In the present study, BmKn-2 scorpion venom peptide and its derivatives were chosen for assessment of anticancer activities. BmKn-2 was identified as the most effective against human oral squamous cells carcinoma cell line (HSC-4) by screening assays with an $IC_{50}$ value of $29{\mu}g/ml$. The BmKn-2 peptide killed HSC-4 cells through induction of apoptosis, as confirmed by phase contrast microscopy and RT-PCR techniques. Typical morphological features of apoptosis including cell shrinkage and rounding characteristics were observed in treated HSC-4 cells. The results were further confirmed by increased expression of pro-apoptotic genes such as caspase-3, -7, and -9 but decrease mRNA level of anti-apoptotic BCL-2 in BmKn-2 treated cells, as determined by RT-PCR assay. In summary, the BmKn-2 scorpion venom peptide demonstrates specific membrane binding, growth inhibition and apoptogenic activity against human oral cancer cells.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.57-66
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• 2010

Programmed cell death systems are important for an active type of cell deaths. Among them, a type of programmed cell death, autophagy is activated in cancer cells in response to multiple stresses and has been demonstrated to promote tumor cell survival and drug resistance. Thus, in the area of cancer, over the time frame form around the 1940s to date, of the 155 small molecules, 73% are other than "synthetic", with 47% actually being either "natural products" or "directly derived therefrom". Autophagy has multiple physiological functions in multicellular organisms, including protein degradation and organelle turnover. Genes and proteins that constitute the basic machinery of the autophagic process were first identified in the yeast system and some of their mammalian orthologues have been characterized as well. Numerous oncogenes, including Akt1, Bcl-2, NF1, PDPK1, class I PI3K, PTEN, and Ras and oncosuppressors, inculuding Bec-1, Bif-1, DAPK-1, p53 and UVRAG suppress or promote the autophagy pathway. Regulation of autophagy in tumors is governed by similar principles of the normal cells, only in a much more complicated manner, given the frequently observed abnormal PI3K activation in cancer and the multitude of interactions between the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway and other cell signaling cascades, often also deregulated in tumor cells. Autophagy induction by some anticancer agents underlines the potential utility of its induction as a new cancer treatment modality of development for natural medicines.