• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.123-135
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• 2024

Although gemcitabine-based regimens are widely used as an effective treatment for pancreatic cancer, acquired resistance to gemcitabine has become an increasingly common problem. Therefore, a novel therapeutic strategy to treat gemcitabine-resistant pancreatic cancer is urgently required. Piceamycin has been reported to exhibit antiproliferative activity against various cancer cells; however, its underlying molecular mechanism for anticancer activity in pancreatic cancer cells remains unexplored. Therefore, the present study evaluated the antiproliferation activity of piceamycin in a gemcitabine-resistant pancreatic cancer cell line and patient-derived pancreatic cancer organoids. Piceamycin effectively inhibited the proliferation and suppressed the expression of alpha-actinin-4, a gene that plays a pivotal role in tumorigenesis and metastasis of various cancers, in gemcitabine-resistant cells. Long-term exposure to piceamycin induced cell cycle arrest at the G₀/G₁ phase and caused apoptosis. Piceamycin also inhibited the invasion and migration of gemcitabine-resistant cells by modulating focal adhesion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition biomarkers. Moreover, the combination of piceamycin and gemcitabine exhibited a synergistic antiproliferative activity in gemcitabine-resistant cells. Piceamycin also effectively inhibited patient-derived pancreatic cancer organoid growth and induced apoptosis in the organoids. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that piceamycin may be an effective agent for overcoming gemcitabine resistance in pancreatic cancer.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.59 no.9
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• pp.374-380
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• 2016

Purpose: Patients with unresectable, relapsed, or refractory osteosarcoma need a novel therapeutic agent. Metformin is a biguanide derivative used in the treatment of type II diabetes, and is recently gaining attention in cancer research. Methods: We evaluated the effect of metformin against human osteosarcoma. Four osteosarcoma cell lines (KHOS/NP, HOS, MG-63, U-2 OS) were treated with metformin and cell proliferation was evaluated using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Cell cycle progression and apoptosis were evaluated using flow cytometric analysis, and migration and wound healing assay were performed. Fourteen female Balb/c-nude mice received KHOS/NP cell grafts in their thigh, and were allowed access to metformin containing water (2 mg/mL) ad libitum. Tumor volume was measured every 3-4 days for a period of 4 weeks. Results: Metformin had a significant antiproliferative effect on human osteosarcoma cells. In particular, metformin inhibited the proliferation and migration of KHOS/NP cells by activation of AMP-activated protein kinase and consequent inhibition of the mammalian target of rapamycin pathway. It also inhibited the proliferation of cisplatin-resistant KHOS/NP clone cells. Analysis of KHOS/NP xenograft Balb/c-nude models indicated that metformin displayed potent in vivo antitumor effects. Conclusion: Further studies are necessary to explore metformin's therapeutic potential and the possibilities for its use as an adjuvant agent for osteosarcoma.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.4755-4759
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• 2016

Introduction: Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. In certain countries such as United States of America, it is the leading cause of related cancer mortality among both men and women. Natural products play an important role in overcoming the limitations of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Objectives: In this study, we investigated the antiproliferative and apoptotic activities of Kanahia laniflora methanolic extract against human non-small cell lung cancer cells (A549). Methods: Sulforhodamine B colorimetric assays were used to determine the inhibitory effects of a leaf methanolic extract against A549 cells. Results: The extract showed strong cytotoxic activity against A549 cells with an $IC_{50}$ value of $0.13{\mu}g/ml$ compared to $0.21{\mu}g/ml$ for doxorubicin. The extract also significantly increased the percentage of apoptotic cells to 49.7% as compared to 1.4% and 47.4% for control and doxorubicin respectively. Conclusion: These results showed, for the first time, that a methanolic extract of Kanahia laniflora leaves can inhibit the proliferation of human non-small cell lung cancer cells (A549). Further attention to its potential as a new effective anticancer agent is warranted.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.129-133
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• 2004

Quercetin is a dietary anticancer chemical that is capable of inducing apoptosis in tumor cells. However, little is known about its biological effect in nonmalignant hepatic cells. Using embryonic normal hepatic cell line (BNL CL.2) and its SV40-transformed tumorigenic cell line (BNL SV A.8), we evaluated the effects of quercetin on cell proliferation and apoptosis. As the results, our present study demonstrated that quercetin had a selective growth inhibition in normal versus tumorigenic hepatic cells such that BNL SV A.8 cells were very sensitive to the quercetin-mediated cytotoxicity. In particular, as evidenced by the increased number of positively stained cells in the TUNEL assay, the induction of characteristic nuclear DNA ladders, and the migration of many cells to sub-G1 phase in the BNL SV A.8 cells, quercetin treatment more sensitively induced apoptosis in BNL SV A8 cells than in BNL CL.2 cells. Collectively, our findings suggest that quercetin can be approached as a potential agent that is capable of inducing selective growth inhibition and apoptosis of hepatic cancer cells.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.382-388
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• 2003

(-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is a polyphenolic compound found in peen tea leaves, and has been known to be one of the most potent catechin species which inhibits cell growth most possibly through an apoptotic cell death. We investigated the apoptotic activity of (-)-EGCG on the human myeloid leukemia cell line, HL-60. Our results of MTT test indicated that (-)-EGCG had a significant antiproliferation effect in HL-60 cells with $IC_{50}$/ (50% inhibition concentration) value of 65 $\mu$M. Giemsa statining of HL-60 cells treated with (-)-EGCG (100 $\mu$M) for 6hrs showed a typical apoptosis-specific morphological change including shrinkage of the cytoplasm, membrane blobbing and compaction of the nuclear chromatin. The DNA fragmentation was observed from the agarose gel electrophoresis of cells treated with (-)-EGCG for 3hrs or longer, and was progressed to a greater degree as treatment time increases. Treatment of the cells with (-)-EGCG (100 $\mu$M) resulted in a rapid release of mitochondrial cytochrome c into the cytosol, and a subsequent cleavage of caspase-3 to an active form in a treatment-time dependent manner. (-)-EGCG (100 $\mu$M) also stimulated proteolytic cleavage of poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) to an active form in HL-60 cells. Tlken together, (-)-EGCG appears to induce the apoptosis in human myeloid leukemia cells via a caspase-dependent pathway. These results suggest the possible application of (-)-EGCG, the major active compound in green tea, as an antiproliferative agent for cancer prevention.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.628-630
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• 2004

Antitumor activities of a peptide fraction isolated from traditional Korean soy sauce (SSP) were investigated in vitro and in vivo using cancer cell lines and F9 teratocarcinoma-bearing BALB/c mice. SSP exerted a dose-dependent antiproliferative effect on P388D1 mouse lymphoma, F9 mouse teratocarcinoma, and DLD-l human colon cancer cells with $IC_{50}$ values of 11, 50, and $50\mug/ml$, respectively. Tumor growth in F9 teratocarcinoma-bearing BALB/c mice, orally administered with 80 and 200 mg/kg/day of SSPs, was inhibited 10.3% and 52.4%, respectively, and survival days increased by 11.9% and 22.1%, respectively, compared to the control group. The results of antitumor activities exerted by SSP in vitro and in vivo suggest the feasibility of using SSP as an antitumor agent.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.23
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• pp.10067-10070
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• 2015

Background: Unopposed estrogen has a central role in development of endometrial benign, premalignant and malignant lesions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-estrogenic effect of metformin on endometrial histology in comparison with progesterone. Materials and Methods: A total of 43 patients who were referred to our center for abnormal uterine bleeding and had a histologic diagnosis were disordered proliferative endometrium or simple endometrial hyperplasia were included and randomly distributed in two groups treated with metformin (500mg Bid) or megestrol (40mg daily), respectively, for three months. After this period the patients were evaluated by another endometrial biopsy to assess the impact of the two drugs in restoring normal endometrial histology. Results: Our findings revealed that metformin could induce endometrial atrophy in 21 out of 22 patients (95.5%) while this positive response was achieved in only 13 out of 21 patients (61.9%) in the megstrol group. In addition two low grade endometrial carcinomas in the metformin group responded very well. Conclusions: We conclude that metformin could be used as an effective antiestrogenic agent in control of abnormal endometrial proliferative disorders.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2753-2758
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• 2012

Rubia cordifolia Linn, which belongs to the Rubiaceae family, is a well-known herb used in Ayurvedic medicine. In the present study, we investigated the influence of a methanolic extract (RC) on the induction of apoptosis in HEp-2 (human laryngeal carcinoma) cell line, as evidenced by cytotoxicity, morphological changes and modification in the levels of pro-oxidants. Inhibition of cell proliferation and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release increased in a time and dose-dependent manner. Further, reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione transferase (GST) and protein levels decreased and lipid peroxidation increased significantly on RC treatment in a dose dependent manner when compared to controls. Based on the results we determined the optimal dose as 30mg/ ml and the apoptotic effect of RC extract (30 mg/ml) on HEp-2 cells was confirmed by fluorescent microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) based on morphological and ultrastructural changes. RC extract suppressed the proliferation of HEp-2 oral cancer cells inducing apoptotic cell death in vitro. These results point to potential of RC extract as an agent for the treatment of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.418-422
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• 2015

In the course of screening for novel cell cycle inhibitors and apoptotic inducers, CR389, elucidated as 5-(1H-benzoimidazol-2-yl)-1H-pyridin-2-one, was generated as a new hit compound. Flow cytometric analysis and western blots of PA-1 cells treated with $60{\mu}M$ CR389 revealed an appreciable cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase through direct inhibition of the CDK1 complex. In addition, activation of p53 via phosphorylation at Ser15 and subsequent up-regulation of p21^CIP1 showed that CR389 also induces p53-dependent-p21^CIP1-mediated cell cycle arrest. Furthermore, apoptotic induction in $60{\mu}M$ CR389-treated PA-1 cells is associated with the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria through up-regulation of the proapoptotic Bax protein, which results in the activation of procaspase-9 and -3, and the cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Accordingly, CR389 seems to have multiple mechanisms of antiproliferative activity through p53-mediated pathways against human ovarian cancer cells. Therefore, we conclude that CR389 is a candidate therapeutic agent for the treatment of human ovarian cancer via the activation of p53.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.365-370
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• 2018

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Oxidative stress is a major cause of cancer. This study investigated the effects of the ethanol extracts from germinated and non-germinated Keunnunjami rice, a blackish-purple pigmented cultivar with giant embryo, on selected human cancer cell lines and on the antioxidant defense system of mice fed with a high-fat diet. MATERIALS/METHODS: High fat-fed mice were orally administered with either distilled water (HF) or extracts (0.25%, w/w) from brown (B), germinated brown (GB), Keunnunjami (K), and germinated Keunnunjami (GK) rice. RESULTS: In comparison with the brown rice extract, Keunnunjami extract showed higher anticancer effect against cervical and gastric cell lines but lower anticancer activity on liver and colon cancer cells. Mice from the HF group showed significantly higher lipid peroxidation and lower antioxidant enzyme activities than the control group. However, the oxidative stress induced by high-fat diet markedly decreased in B, GB, K, and GK groups as compared with the HF group. CONCLUSIONS: Germination may be an effective method for improving the anticancer and antioxidative properties of Keunnunjami rice and extracts from germinated Keunnunjami rice may serve as a therapeutic agent against cervical and gastric cancers and oxidative damage.