• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.221-227
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• 2004

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), particularly the highly selective cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitors have been shown to decrease the growth of tumor, in part, by inhibition of neovascularization. Recently, besides mature endothelial cells, endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have been shown to contribute neovascularization in angiogenic tissues. In this study, we addressed a question whether nimesulide, a selective COX-2 inhibitor, could affect differentiation of EPCs into adhesive endothelial cells in vitro. Total mononuclear cells were isolated from cord blood by Ficoll density gradient centrifugation, and then the cells were incubated with nimesulide or vehicle control for 7 days. The number of adherent and spindle-shaped cells decreased by nimesulide treatment in a concentration-dependent fashion at a concentration range of 5 - 200 ${\mu}M$. Moreover, the adherent cells double positive for DiI-ac-LDL uptake and lectin binding significantly decreased upon nimesulide treatment. There was no change of expression of CD31 between treatment and control groups, whereas slight reduction was detected upon treatment in expression of VE-cadherin, ICAM-1, vWF, ${\alpha}v$, and ${\alpha}5$. Nimesulide also reduced cell viability during first 3 days' culture and induced apoptosis in adherent EPCs, resulting in increased annexin-V-positive and propidium iodide-negative cells. Taken together, these results suggest that nimesulide could be applied for the inhibition of new vessel formation, in part, by inhibiting differentiation and survival of EPCs.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.342-347
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• 2013

In recent years, polyphenol-rich herbs, fruits and processed foods, which are made of plant origin, have attracted much attention due to their potential health benefits. Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is an important source of bioactive compounds and has been used to treat diseases because of its medicinal properties. This research was focused on characterizing Korea's national cultivar and a similar product from California, USA. To evaluate their bioactive compounds and pharmacological activities, their anti-oxidation and cancer inhibition properties, as well as their organic acid and free sugar contents, were investigated. The national cultivar had low total sugar and high organic acid contents, contrary to the imported product. The results showed that the peel of national cultivar had high polyphenol and ellagic acid contents compared to imported product. The free radical scavenging capacity was evaluated via 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and its positive correlation with the total polyphenol contents was found. The anti-cancer activity of methanol extracts revealed growth inhibition against the prostate cancer cell. These results signify that while pomegranate, national cultivar, is more sour than the imported product, its health benefits could be excellent. Also, the polyphenol compound content of the non-edible part (such as the peel and the seed) was higher than that of the juice. Thus, it is suggested that the byproduct of the juice extraction could be potentially used in other fields such as medicine or dietary agents.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.223-227
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• 2014

${\delta}$-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is a compound which is widely present in the biosphere and plays an important role in the living body as an intermediate of the tetrapyrrole compound biosynthesis pathway that leads to heme in mammals and chlorophyll in plants. ALA is of interest as a biodegradable mediator, a growth regulator, a precursor of heme proteins, and an effective agent used in therapy of cancer. It has been recently reported that ALA is commonly used in dermatology, due to good effects of skin therapy. Although for the last few decades a substantial amount of research has been focused on the elucidation of the mechanism of ALA and the improvement of its therapeutic activity, it's effect on the cell functions and growth was not cleared. Here, we identified that ALA treatment could attenuate cell proliferation of HEK293T and HaCaT cells. In addition, ALA treatement could induce apoptosis of HeLa cells. These results suggest that apoptosis induced by ALA treatment might be responsible for inhibition of cell proliferation. These results propose the possibility of the improved therapeutic strategy making ALA one of the effective drugs used in human cancers.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.642-650
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• 2003

To develop a new approach to the treatment of neuroblastoma cells we evaluated the effect of cAMP on the Ewing's sarcoma cell line CHP-100. We observed that the proliferation-inhibitory effect of cAMP analogs was due to cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis, which was confirmed by observing the morphological changes and DNA fragmentation. DNA flow cytometric analysis revealed that cAMP arrested the cell cycle progression at the G1 phase, which effects were associated with inhibition of phosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein (pRB) and enhanced binding of pRB and the transcription factor E2F-1. cAMP also suppressed the cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) 2 and cyclin E-associated kinase activity without changes of their expressions. Furthermore, cAMP induced the levels of Cdk inhibitor $p21^{WAF1/CIP1$ expression and p21 proteins induced by cAMP were associated with Cdk2. Overall, our results identify a combined mechanism involving the inhibition of pRB phosphorylation and induction of p21 as targets for cAMP, and this may explain some of its anti-cancer effects.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.75-84
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• 2008

Colored potatoes are an excellent source of dietary polyphenols including anthocyanins. Generally, anthocyanins from fruits and vegetables exhibit anti-carcinogenesis and anti-cancer properties in vitro test. This experiment was conducted to know the effects of colored potato extracts contained anthocyanins on antimutagenic activity and anticancer activity to six human cancer cell lines containing LNCaP (androgen-dependent) prostate cancer cells. Extracts of three colored potatoes ('Hongyoung', 'Jayoung' and 'Jasim') and the white potato ('Superior') cultivars were used in this study. The extracts of three colored potatoes inhibited the mutagenicities induced by direct mutagen such as 4-nitro-quinoline-1-oxide (4-NQO) and another indirect mutagens of bezo(a)pyrene (BaP). Also, the extracts of 'Hoyoung' and 'Jayoung' showed higher antimutagenic activity than 'Jasim' and 'Superior' against to direct or indirect mutagen on both strains of TA98 and TA100. The activity of growth-inhibitory of extract of four potato cultivars were screened by SRB (sulphorhodamine B) method on diverse human cancer cells representing different types of cancers. Among the extract of four potato cultivars, the extract of 'Jasim' showed moderate inhibition on proliferation of LNCaP, ACHN and MOLT-4F cells and did not inhibit the proliferation of other cancer cells. On the other hand, extract of 'Superior' did not inhibit the proliferation of any tested cancer cell lines. However, the extracts of 'Hongyoung and Jayoung' inhibited the proliferation of cancer cells with $GI_{50}$ values ranging from 2.5 to $30\;{\mu}g/mL$. On the basis of the $GI_{50}$ values, it is clear that LNCaP cells were more sensitive to extracts of colored potato cultivars than other cancer cells. The extract of 'Jayoung' at $30\;{\mu}g/mL$ were more active and inhibited cell proliferation, and induced apoptosis in LNCaP cells. This result revealed that the extracts of colored potatoes are expected to be good candidate for development into source of antimutagenic and anticancer agent.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.2081-2086
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• 2015

Gecko is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine with remarkable antineoplastic activity. However, undefined mechanisms and ambiguity regarding active ingredients limit new drug development from gecko. This study was conducted to assess anti-angiogenic properties of the aqueous extracts of fresh gecko (AG) or macromolecular components separated from AG (M-AG). An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) approach was applied to detect the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion of the tumor cells treated with AG or M-AG. The effect of AG or M-AG on vascular endothelial cell proliferation and migratory ability was analyzed by tetrazolium dye colorimetric method, transwell and wound-healing assays. Chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assays were used to ensure the anti-angiogenic activity of M-AG in vivo. The results showed that AG or M-AG inhibited the VEGF secretion of tumor cells, the relative inhibition rates of AG and M-AG being 27.2% and 53.2% respectively at a concentration of $20{\mu}L/mL$. AG and M-AG inhibited the vascular endothelial (VE) cell proliferation with IC50 values of $11.5{\pm}0.5{\mu}L/mL$ and $12.9{\pm}0.4{\mu}L/mL$ respectively. The VE cell migration potential was inhibited significantly (p<0.01) by the AG (${\geq}24{\mu}L/mL$) or M-AG (${\geq}12\mu}L/mL$) treatment. In vivo, neovascularization of CAM treated with M-AG was inhibited significantly (p<0.05) at a concentration of ${\geq}0.4{\mu}L/mL$. This study provided evidence that anti-angiogenesis is one of the anti-tumor mechanisms of AG and M-AG, with the latter as a promising active component.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1235-1243
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• 2015

Hwangheuk-san (HHS) is a Korean multi-herb formula comprising four medicinal herbs. HHS, which was recorded in “Dongeuibogam,” has been used to treat patients with inflammation syndromes and digestive tract cancer for hundreds of years. However, little is known about its anti-tumor efficacy. The present study investigated the pro-apoptotic effect and mode of action of HHS against AGS human gastric carcinoma cells. HHS inhibited the cell growth of AGS cells in a dose-dependent manner, which was associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death, as evidenced by the formation of apoptotic bodies, chromatin condensation, and an accumulation of cells in the sub-G1 phase. HHS-induced apoptotic cell death was associated with the up-regulation of pro-apoptotic Bax protein expression, down-regulation of antiapoptotic Bcl-2 protein, and the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria to the cytosol. The treatment of AGS cells with HHS significantly elevated the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Additionally, apoptosis-inducing concentrations of HHS induced the activation of both caspase-9 and -8, initiator caspases of the mitochondrial-mediated intrinsic and death receptor-mediated extrinsic pathways, respectively, and caspase-3, accompanied by proteolytic degradation of poly (ADP-ribose)-polymerase. However, ROS scavenger and pan-caspases inhibitor significantly blocked HHS-induced growth inhibition and apoptosis. Taken together, these findings suggest that HHS induces apoptosis through ROS- and caspase-dependent mechanisms and that HHS may be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for the control of human gastric cancer.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.308-316
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• 2003

Purpose: The green tea polyphenol (GTPP) has been known to exert antioxidant activity as a radical scavenger as well as cancer preventive and cancer growth inhibition effect. The aim of this study was to identify whether GTPP not only potentiate the growth inhibition effect in ${\gamma}-irradiated$ human cancer cell but also exert protection action for irradiated human normal cell. Materials and Methods: GTPP (80% catechin including >45% EGCG) added in the HL60, human leukemia, and NC37, human lymphoblast, before irradiation. After establishing the amount of GTPP and the dose of radiation, the cells were treated with the GTPP for 6 hours and irradiated with the determined doses. Results: Viability when $10{\mu}g/ml$ GTPP added before ${\gamma}-irradiation$ with 1 Gy to NC37 cells was not different in comparison with control but it when was irradiated with 3 Gy significantly different (1 Gy;P=0.126, 3 Gy;P=0.010). $20{\mu}g/ml$ GTPP did not show significant difference in both NC37 cells irradiated with 1 Gy and 3 Gy (1 Gy;P=0.946, 3 Gy;P=0.096). Viabilities were significantly decreased with concentration of additional GTPP in HL60 with 1 or 3 Gy (1 Gy $69.0{\pm}1.7%\;vs\;42.4{\pm}1.3%,\;3\;Gy;\;66.9{\pm}3.9%\;vs\;44.2{\pm}1.6%$). Conclusion: In vitro study, we certified that when the cells were irradiated with dose below 3 Gy, GTPP provide not only anticancerous effect against cancer cells but also radioprotective effect in normal cells simultaneously. Theses results suggest the possibility that consumption of green tea could give the radioprotective effect and maximize the effect on internal radiation such as radioiodine therapy concomitantly.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.384-394
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• 2009

This study was performed to determine the antioxidative and anticancer effects of extracts from Adenophora remotiflora leaves. The antioxidative effects of the extracts were measured using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)-radical scavenging activity and hemoglobin-induced linoleic acid oxidative inhibition assays. The results indicated that the extracts had stronger effects than the synthetic antioxidant BHT at the same concentration. The $SC_{50}$ values (50% radical scavenging effect on $1{\times}10^{-4}$ M DPPH) of the methanol fraction, water extract, and BHT were 47.5 ${\mu}g$/mL, 74.6 ${\mu}g$/mL and 102.2 ${\mu}g$/mL, respectively. In addition the $IC_{50}$ values (hemoglobin-induced linoleic acid oxidation inhibition) of the methanol fraction, water extract, and BHT were 120.8 ${\mu}g$/mL, 135.6 ${\mu}g$/mL, and 150.2 ${\mu}g$/mL, respectively. This research also assessed decreases in the survival of BNLcl2 cells (normal liver cells) by solvent fractions of the A. remotiflora leaf extracts at various concentrations (1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000 ${\mu}g$/mL). The water extract did not decrease survival at any of the concentrations when compared to the control group. The hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanol fractions decreased survival as compared to the control group by inducing cell toxicity at a concentration of 1,000 ${\mu}g$/mL and above. Therefore, an anticancer activity experiment was conducted using concentrations below 500 ${\mu}g$/mL. At 500 ${\mu}g$/mL, the methanol fraction decreased A549 cell (human lung carcinoma cells) survival by 46% as compared to the control group, presenting the greatest effect against cell survival. All extracts showed greater anticancer activity in Hep G2 cells (human liver carcinoma cells) as compared to the A549 cells. For the Hep G2 cells, the methanol extract decreased survival by 28% as compared to the control group at the concentration of 500 ${\mu}g$/mL, thus restraining lung cancer cell growth.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.107-114
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• 2020

Acacetin, which is present in damiana (Turnera diffusa) and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), has several pharmacologic activities such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-proliferative effects on cancer cells. However, the effect of acacetin on head and neck cancers has not been clearly established. This study aimed to examine the effects of acacetin on cell growth and apoptosis induction in FaDu human pharyngeal carcinoma cells. These were investigated by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, Live/Dead cell assay, 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride staining, caspase-3 and caspase-7 activation assay, and immunoblotting in FaDu cells. Acacetin induced FaDu cell death in a dose-dependent manner, with an estimated IC₅₀ value of 41.9 µM, without affecting the viability of L-929 mouse fibroblasts as normal cells. Acacetin treatment resulted in nuclear condensation in the FaDu cells. It promoted the proteolytic cleavage of procaspase-3, -7, -8, and -9 with increasing amounts of the cleaved caspase isoforms in FaDu cells. Acacetin-induced apoptosis in FaDu cells was mediated by the expression of Fas and activation of caspase-8, caspase-3, and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. Immunoblotting showed downregulation of the anti-apoptotic mitochondrial proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, but upregulation of the mitochondria-dependent pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and Badin FaDu cells after acacetin treatment. These findings indicate that acacetin inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptotic cell death in FaDu human pharyngeal carcinoma cells via both the death receptor-mediated extrinsic apoptotic pathway and the mitochondria-mediated intrinsic apoptotic pathway.