• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.367-374
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• 2019

Euphorbia humifusa Willd (EuH), called Ttang-Bin-Dae in Korea, is a traditional medicinal plant widely used for its anti-inflammatory and antiviral activity. Ethyl acetate (EA) extracts of EuH (EA/EuH) inhibit invasion and metastasis by inhibiting tumor necrosis factor TNFá-induced matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-9 expression in human breast cancer cells. However, the bioactive components of EA/EuH mediating the inhibition of MMP-9 expression have not been identified. In the present study, three bioactive constituents of EA/EuH were isolated using high-performance liquid chromatography. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed isoquercetin, avicularin, and astragalin as the bioactive compounds responsible for preventing TNFα-induced MMP-9 mRNA expression in breast cancer cells. These findings suggest that isoquercetin, avicularin, and astragalin could be used as valuable anti-metastatic agents against metastatic cancers.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.128-137
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• 2024

This review discusses the pivotal role of vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) in angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis, vital processes influencing vascular permeability, endothelial cell recruitment, and the maintenance of tumor-associated blood and lymphatic vessels. VEGF exerts its effects through tyrosine-kinase receptors, VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2, and VEGFR-3. This VEGF-VEGFR system is central not only to cancer but also to diseases arising from abnormal blood vessel and lymphatic vessel formation. In the context of cancer, VEGF and its receptors are essential for the development of tumor-associated vessels, making them attractive targets for therapeutic intervention. Various approaches, such as anti-VEGF antibodies, receptor antagonists, and VEGF receptor function inhibitors, are being explored to interfere with tumor growth. However, the clinical efficacy of anti-angiogenic agents remains uncertain and necessitates further refinement. The article also highlights the physiological role of VEGFs, emphasizing their involvement in endothelial cell functions, survival, and vascular permeability. The identification of five distinct VEGFs in humans (VEGF-A, VEGF-B, VEGF-C, VEGF-D, and PLGF) is discussed, along with the classification of VEGFRs as typical receptor tyrosine kinases with distinct signaling systems. The family includes VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2, crucial in tumor biology and angiogenesis, and VEGFR-3, specifically involved in lymphangiogenesis. Overall, this review has provided a comprehensive overview of VEGF and VEGFR, detailing their roles in various diseases, including cancer. This is expected to further facilitate the utilization of VEGF and VEGFR as therapeutic targets.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4751-4756
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• 2012

Colon cancer continues to be one of the most common cancers, and the importance and necessity of new therapies needs to be stressed. The most important proto-oncogen factors for colon cancer appear to be epidermal growth factor receptor, EGFR, and c-Src with high expression and activity leading to tumor growth and ultimately to colon cancer progression. Application of c-Src and EGFR antisense agents simultaneously should theoretically therefore have major benefit. In the present study, anti-EGFR and c-Src specific antisense oligodeoxynucleotides were combined in a formulation using PAMAM dendrimers as a carrier. Nano drug entry into cells was confirmed by flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy imaging and real time PCR showed gene expression of c-Src and EGFR, as well as downstream STAT5 and MAPK-1 with the tumor suppressor gene P53 to all be downregulated. EGFR and c-Src protein expression was also reduced when assessed by western blotting techniques. The effect of the antisense oligonucleotide on HT29 cell proliferation was determined by MTT assay, reduction beijng observed after 48 hours. In summary, nano-drug, anti-EGFR and c-Src specific antisense oligodeoxynucleotides were effectively transferred into HT-29 cells and inhibited gene expression in target cells. Based on the results of this study it appears that the use of antisense EGFR and c-Src simultaneously might have a significant effect on colon cancer growth by down regulation of EGFR and its downstream genes.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.202-206
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• 2013

High-grade mucoepidermoid carcinomas (MECs) have difficulty in cure and 5-year survival rate is quiet low. Therefore, we need new therapeutic agents and molecular targets. Betulinic acid (BA) is one of the materials which is easily found in the world and shows tumor-suppress effects in various tumor types. In addition, many kinds of normal tissues have a resistance to BA treatment. In this study, we investigated the anti-proliferative activity of BA and its molecular targets in MC-3 human MEC cells using western blot analysis and DAPI staining. BA inhibited cell viability and induced apoptosis in MC-3 cells. It affected Specificity protein 1 (Sp1) and its downstream molecule, survivin whereas it did not affect myeloid cell leukemia-1 (Mcl-1). Therefore, we suggest that BA can be a potential anti-cancer drug candidate regulating Sp 1 and survivin to exert apoptotic cell death.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.1338-1343
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• 2007

Angiogenesis is an essential step in tumor progress and metastasis. Accordingly, small molecules that inhibit angiogenesis would appear to be a promising way to cure angiogenesis-related diseases, including cancer. In the present study, we report that streptochlorin, a small molecule from marine actinomycete, exhibits a potent antiangiogenic activity. The compound potently inhibited endothelial cell invasion and tube formation stimulated with vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) at low micromolar concentrations where it showed no cytotoxicity to the cells. In addition, streptochlorin inhibited TNF-${\alpha}$-induced $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation in the newly developed cell-based reporter gene assay. These data demonstrate that streptochlorin is a new inhibitor of $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation and can be a basis for the development of novel anti-angiogenic agents.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.21-25
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• 2015

In this paper, I describe the importance of matrix spraying conditions in imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) to obtain successful imaging results. My developed matrix application methodology, which is a "two-step matrix application" sequentially combined with matrix sublimation and spraying matrix solution can provide high reproducibility and high ion yield compared with a conventional direct spraying method. However, insufficient IMS results were obtained occasionally despite the two-step method. Therefore, I wanted to characterize the methodology to continuously provide high quality data. According to my results, the sublimation time was not a strict parameter, and the most important step was the first spraying condition. This means that the extraction conditions from the tissue section and co-crystallization of the matrix were the most important factors.

• BMB Reports
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.97-102
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• 2013

The use of various cancer cell lines can recapitulate known tumor-associated mutations and genetically define cancer subsets. This approach also enables comparative surveys of associations between cancer mutations and drug responses. Here, we analyzed the effects of ~40,000 compounds on cancer cell lines that showed diverse mutation-dependent sensitivity profiles. Over 1,000 compounds exhibited unique sensitivity on cell lines with specific mutational genotypes, and these compounds were clustered into six different classes of mutation-oriented sensitivity. The present analysis provides new insights into the relationship between somatic mutations and selectivity response of chemicals, and these results should have applications related to predicting and optimizing thera-peutic windows for anti-cancer agents.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.287-290
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• 2007

Intrinsic or acquired resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs is one of the major obstacles to effective cancer treatment. Hypoxia is widespread in solid tumors as a consequence of decreased blood flow in the tumor-derived neovasculature. The recent finding of a link between hypoxia and chemoresistance prompted us to investigate whether hypoxia induces doxorubicin resistance in human MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Low oxygen concentration decreased the doxorubicin sensitivity in MCF-7 cells. The expression of p-glycoprotein, a major MDR-related transporter, and those of apoptosis-related proteins (anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, Bcl-XL and pro-apoptotic Bax) were not altered by hypoxia in MCF-7 cells. Intracellular uptake of doxorubicin was significantly decreased under hypoxic conditions. Decreased cellular uptake of doxorubicin under hypoxia may contribute to causing doxorubicin resistance in these cells. The use of agents that can modulate the doxorubicin uptake for adjuvant therapy may contribute to improving the therapeutic efficacy of doxorubicin in breast cancer patients.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.150-156
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• 2018

Tankyrases are multifunctional poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases that regulate a variety of cellular processes including WNT signaling, telomere maintenance, regulation of mitosis, and many others. Tankyrases interact with target proteins and regulate their interactions and stability through poly (ADP-ribosyl) ation. In addition to their roles in telomere maintenance and regulation of mitosis, tankyrase proteins regulate tumor suppressors such as AXIN, PTEN, and AMOT. Therefore, tankyrases can be effective targets for cancer treatment. Tankyrase inhibitors could affect a variety of pathways that are carcinogenic (essential for the unlimited proliferation of human cancer cells), including WNT, AKT, YAP, telomere maintenance, and regulation of mitosis. Recently, new aspects of the function and mechanism of tankyrases have been reported and several tankyrase inhibitors have been identified. Also, it has been proposed that the combination of conventional chemotherapy agents with tankyrase inhibitors may have synergistic anti-cancer effects. Based on this, it is expected that more advanced and improved tankyrase inhibitors will be developed, enabling new therapeutic strategies against cancer and other tankyrase linked diseases. This review discusses tankyrase function and the role of tankyrase inhibitors in the treatment of cancer.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.273-282
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• 2017

Chemoprevention entails the use of synthetic agents or naturally occurring dietary phytochemicals to prevent cancer development and progression. One promising chemopreventive agent, procyanidin, is a naturally occurring polyphenol that exhibits beneficial health effects including anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, and antitumor activities. Currently, many preclinical reports suggest procyanidin as a promising lead compound for cancer prevention and treatment. As a potential anticancer agent, procyanidin has been shown to inhibit the proliferation of various cancer cells in "in vitro and in vivo". Procyanidin has numerous targets, many of which are components of intracellular signaling pathways, including proinflammatory mediators, regulators of cell survival and apoptosis, and angiogenic and metastatic mediators, and modulates a set of upstream kinases, transcription factors, and their regulators. Although remarkable progress characterizing the molecular mechanisms and targets underlying the anticancer properties of procyanidin has been made in the past decade, the chemopreventive targets or biomarkers of procyanidin action have not been completely elucidated. This review focuses on the apoptosis and tumor inhibitory effects of procyanidin with respect to its bioavailability.