• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.56-62
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• 1999

Resveratrol (3,5,4'-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene) has been considered to be as one of major antioxidants present in grapes responsible for beneficial effects of red wine consumption on coronary heart disease. This triphenolic stilbene has been suggested as a potential cancer chemopreventive agent based on its striking inhiitory effects on diverse cellular events associated with tumor initiation, promotion, and progression. The compound has strong antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities which amy contribute to its chemopreventive/chemoprotective properties. In the present work, we have found that resveratrol reduces viability and DNA synthesis capability of cultured human promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) cells. Likewise, the viability of human breast cancer cell line, MCF-7 was reduced by resveratrol treatment. The growth inhibitory and antiproliferative properties of resveratrol appear to be associated with its induction of apoptotic cell death as determined by morphological and ultrastructural changes, agarose gel electrphoretic analysis of internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, and in situ terminal end-labeling of fragmented DNA (TUNEL). This compound also inhibited the phorbol ester-induced expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein in immortalized human mammary epithelial MCF-10A cells. These results suggest that resveratrol has the promising cancer therapeutic/chemopreventive potential.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6925-6928
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• 2013

Background: Despite numerous useful anticancer properties of curcumin, its utility is limited due to its hydrophobic structure. In this study, we investigated the comparative antiproliferative effect of PAMAM encapsulating curcumin with naked curcumin on the T47D breast cancer cell line. Materials and Methods: Cytotoxic effects of PAMAM dendrimers encapsulating curcumin and curcumin alone were investigated by MTT assay. After treating cells with different concentrations of both curcumin alone and curcumin encapsulated for 24h, telomerase activity was determined by TRAP assay. Results: While PAMAM dendrimers encapsulating curcumin had no cytotoxicity on cancer cells, they decreased the $IC_{50}$ for proliferation and also increased the inhibitory effect on telomerase activity. Conclusions: Considering the non-toxicity in addition to effectiveness for enhancing curcumin anticancer properties, dendrimers could be considered good therapeutic vehicles for this hydrophobic agent.

• CELLMED
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.31.1-31.7
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• 2012

Curcuma longa belongs to the family Zingiberaceae and can be found in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It is widely used in Asiatic countries, especially India and South East Asia where it is cultivated commercially as a condiment. Its rhizomes exhibit anti-inflammatory, anti-human immunodeficiency virus, anti-bacterial, antioxidant effects, nematocidal activities, antiproliferative and antiangiogenic activities and are of pharmaceutical importance. Another relevant medicinal property exhibited by it is antidiabetic property which is reviewed here. Studies on the efficacy of crude C.longa extracts against type 2 diabetes in murine models reveal that it demonstrates a hypoglycemic effect by lowering the blood glucose levels under in vivo conditions. Clinical studies have revealed the safety of curucmin (major principle component exhibiting pharmaceutical properties from C.longa) on humans but with very low bioavailability. In view of its effective hypoglycemic effect and its low bioavailability, further studies are needed for the characterization of the bioactive principles and formulating the development of C.longa extracts as a novel anti-diabetic therapeutic agent.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.251-255
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• 2014

Background: Ginsenoside Rp1 (G-Rp1) is a novel ginsenoside derived from ginsenoside Rk1. This compound was reported to have anticancer, anti-platelet, and anti-inflammatory activities. In this study, we examined the molecular target of the antiproliferative and proapoptotic activities of G-Rp1. Methods: To examine the effects of G-Rp1, cell proliferation assays, propidium iodine staining, proteomic analysis by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, immunoblotting analysis, and a knockdown strategy were used. Results: G-Rp1 dose-dependently suppressed the proliferation of colorectal cancer LoVo cells and increased their apoptosis. G-Rp1 markedly upregulated the protein level of apolipoprotein (Apo)-A1 in LoVo, SNU-407, DLD-1, SNU-638, AGS, KPL-4, and SK-BR-3 cells. The knockdown of Apo-A1 by its small-interfering RNA increased the levels of cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and p53 and diminished the proliferation of LoVo cells. Conclusion: These results suggest that G-Rp1 may act as an anticancer agent by strongly inhibiting cell proliferation and enhancing apoptosis through upregulation of Apo-A1.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.439-447
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• 2015

The objective of this study was to isolate and identify the chemical structure of a biosurfactant produced by Nocardia farcinica strain BN26 isolated from soil, and evaluate its in vitro antitumor activity on a panel of human cancer cell lines. Strain BN26 was found to produce glycolipid biosurfactant on n-hexadecane as the sole carbon source. The biosurfactant was purified using medium-pressure liquid chromatography and characterized as trehalose lipid tetraester (THL) by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Subsequently, the cytotoxic effects of THL on cancer cell lines BV-173, KE-37 (SKW-3), HL-60, HL-60/DOX, and JMSU-1 were evaluated by MTT assay. It was shown that THL exerted concentration-dependent antiproliferative activity against the human tumor cell lines and mediated cell death by the induction of partial oligonucleosomal DNA fragmentation. These findings suggest that THL could be of potential to apply in biomedicine as a therapeutic agent.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.480-484
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• 2002

Costunolide has been reported to be a cytotoxic and chemopreventive agent. This work investigated the mechanism of the anti proliferative effect of costunolide and determined that it induced differentiation of the human leukemia cell line HL-60. Costunolide exhibited a potent antiproliferative activity against HL-60 cells. It was also found to be a potent inducer of differentiation in human leukemia derived HL-60 cells through the examination of differentiation markers, as assessed by the reduction of nitroblue tetrazolium, the increase in esterase activities and phagocytic activity, morphology change and the expression of CD14 and CD66b surface antigens. These results, accompanied by a decline in the expression of c-myc protein, suggest that costunolide induces differentiation of human leukemia cells to granulocytes and monocytes/macrophages lineage.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2021

Human prostate cancer is the second most frequently diagnosed cancer worldwide, and its incidence rate continues to increase. Advanced prostate cancer is more difficult to treat than early forms due to its chemotherapy resistance. There is need for more effective agents that can inhibit the progression of advanced prostate cancer. Demethoxyfumitremorgin C (DMFTC) was isolated from the fermentation extract of the marine fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. Antiproliferative activity of DMFTC against human prostate cancer PC3 cells was examined through cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry, the fluorescent nuclear imaging analysis with propidium iodide (PI), and proteins expression related to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis were investigated via Western blotting. DMFTC inhibited PC3 cells growth through G1 phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction. It activated the tumor suppressor p53 and the Cdk inhibitor p21, which regulate the cell progression into the G1 phase. Additionally, PI-positive late apoptotic non-viable cells were increased and the expression levels of the G1-positive downstream regulators cyclin D, cyclin E, Cdk2, and Cdk4 were decreased by DMFTC treatment. These results suggest that DMFTC induces G1 arrest and apoptosis induction through regulation of p53/p21-dependent cyclin-Cdk complexes, and it may be a useful therapeutic agent for the treatment of human advanced prostate cancer.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.718-729
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• 2022

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the most common primary esophageal malignancy with poor prognosis. Here, due to the necessity for exploring potential therapies against ESCC, we obtained the gene expression data on ESCC from the TCGA and GEO databases. Venn diagram analysis was applied to identify common targets. The protein-protein interaction network was constructed by Cytoscape software, and the hub targets were extracted from the network via cytoHubba. The potential hub nodes as drug targets were found by pharmacophore-based virtual screening and molecular modeling, and the antitumor activity was evaluated through in vitro studies. A total of 364 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in ESCC were identified. Pathway enrichment analyses suggested that most DEGs were mainly involved in the cell cycle. Three hub targets were retrieved, including CENPF, CCNA2 (cyclin A), and CCNB1 (cyclin B1), which were highly expressed in esophageal cancer and associated with prognosis. Moreover, amentoflavone, a promising drug candidate found by pharmacophore-based virtual screening, showed antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects and induced G1 in esophageal squamous carcinoma cells. Taken together, our findings suggested that amentoflavone could be a potential cell cycle inhibitor targeting cyclin B1, and is therefore expected to serve as a great therapeutic agent for treating esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.5903-5908
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• 2012

Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the combined effects of exemestane and aspirin on MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. Methods: Antiproliferative effects of exemestane and aspirin, alone and in combination, on growth of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells were assessed using the MTT assay. Synergistic interaction between the two drugs was evaluated in vitro using the combination index (CI) method. The cell cycle distribution was analyzed by flow cytometry and Western blotting was used to investigate the expression of cyclooxygenase-1, cyclooxygenase-2 and Bcl-2. Results: MTT assays indicated that combination treatment obviously decreased the viability of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells compared to individual drug treatment (CI<1). In addition, the combination of exemestane and aspirin exhibited a synergistic inhibition of cell proliferation, significantly arrested the cell cycle in the $G_0/G_1$ phase and produced a stronger inhibitory effect on COX-1 and Bcl-2 expression than control or individual drug treatment. Conclusion: These results indicate that the combination of exemestane and aspirin might become a useful method to the treatment of hormone-dependent breast cancer. The combination of the two inhibitors significantly increased the response as compared to single agent treatment, suggesting that combination treatment could become a highly effective approach for breast cancer.

• BMB Reports
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.185-190
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• 2016

Crotamine is a peptide toxin found in the venom of the rattlesnake Crotalus durissus terrificus and has antiproliferative, antimicrobial, and antifungal activities. Herein, we show that crotamine dose-dependently induced macrophage phagocytic and cytostatic activity by the induction of nitric oxide (NO) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). Moreover, the crotamineinduced expression of iNOS and TNF-α is mediated through the phosphorylation of p38 and the NF-κB signaling cascade in macrophages. Notably, pretreatment with SB203580 (a p38-specific inhibitor) or BAY 11-7082 (an NF-κB inhibitor) inhibited crotamine-induced NO production and macrophage phagocytic and cytotoxic activity. Our results show for the first time that crotamine stimulates macrophage phagocytic and cytostatic activity by induction of NO and TNF-α via the p38 and NF-κB signaling pathways and suggest that crotamine may be a useful therapeutic agent for the treatment of inflammatory disease.