• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.5185-5188
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• 2016

Objective: Targeted-drug-delivery based lipid nanoparticles has emerged as a new and effective approach in cancer chemotherapy. Here, we investigated the ability of folate-modified nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) to enhance letrozol (LTZ) efficacy in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Methods: New formulations were evaluated regarding to particle size and scanning electron microscope (SEM) features. Anti-proliferative effects of LTZ loaded nanoparticles were examined by MTT assay. To understand molecular mechanisms of apoptosis and cell cycle progression, flow cytometric assays were applied. Results: Optimum size of nanoparticles was obtained in mean average of $98{\pm}7nm$ with a poly dispersity index (PDI) of 0.165. The IC50 value was achieved for LTZ was $2.2{\pm}0.2{\mu}M$. Folate-NLC-LTZ increased the percentage of apoptotic cells from 24.6% to 42.2% compared LTZ alone (p<0.05). Furthermore, LTZ loaded folate targeted NLCs caused marked accumulation of cells in the subG1 phase. Conclusion: Taken together, our results concluded that folate targeted LTZ can be considered as potential delivery system which may overcome limitations of clinical application of LTZ and improve drug efficacy in tumor tissue.

• Proceedings of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society Conference
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• 2000.08a
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• pp.32-32
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• 2000

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.189-195
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• 2021

Fluoxetine (FLX), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant, exhibits various other mechanisms of action in numerous cell types and has been shown to induce cell death in cancer cells, paving the way for its potential use in cancer therapy. The aim of this study was to determine the off-target effects of the anti-depressant drug FLX, on the human ovarian granulosa tumor COV434 cells stimulated by forskolin (FSK), by measuring the real-time kinetics of intracellular cyclic AMP (cAMP), ATP level, cytoplasmic calcium ([Ca2+]cyt) and survival of COV434 cells. We show that incubating COV434 cells with FLX (between 0.6 and 10 μM) induces a decrease in intracellular cAMP response to FSK, a drop in ATP content and stimulates cytoplasmic Ca2+ accumulation in COV434 cells. Only the highest concentrations of FLX (5-10 μM) diminished cell viability. The present report is the first to identify an action mechanism of FLX in human tumor ovarian cells COV434 cells and thus opening the way to potential use of fluoxetine as a complementary tool, in granulosa tumor treatments.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.17
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• pp.7959-7965
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• 2015

Background: Identification of predictive markers for the efficacy of platinum-based chemotherapy is necessary to improve the quality of the life of cancer patients. Materials and Methods: We detected proteins recognized by autoantibodies in pretreated sera from patients with lung adenocarcinoma (AC) evaluated as showing progressive disease (PD) or a partial response (PR) after cisplatin-based chemotherapy by proteomic analysis. Then, the levels of the candidate autoantibodies in the pretreated serum were validated by dot-blot analysis for 22 AC patients who received platinum-based chemotherapy, and the expression of identified proteins was immunohistochemically analyzed in 40 AC biopsy specimens. Results: An autoantibody against galectin-3 (Gal-3) was detected in pretreated sera from an AC patient with PD. Serum IgG levels of anti-Gal-3 autoantibody were significantly higher in patients evaluated with PD than in those with PR and stable disease (SD) (p = 0.0084). Furthermore, pretreated biopsy specimens taken from patients evaluated as showing PD following platinumbased chemotherapy showed a tendency to have a higher positive rate of Gal-3 than those with PR and SD (p = 0.0601). Conclusions: These results suggest that serum IgG levels of anti-Gal-3 autoantibody may be useful to predict the efficacy of platinum-based chemotherapy for patients with lung AC.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.1201-1211
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• 2018

The study compared the anti-aging, anti-adipogenesis, and anti-tumor effects of epigallocatechin-3- gallate (EGCG) in various cancer cell lines (SNU-601, MKN74, AGS, MCF-7, U87-MG, and A-549) and normal cell lines (MRC-5 fibroblasts, dental tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells [DSC], and 3T3-L1 pro-adipocytes). Half inhibitory concentration ($IC_{50}$) values were significantly (p<0.05) higher in normal cell lines (~50 uM), when compared to that in cancer cell lines (~10 uM). For anti-aging effects, MRC-5 and DSC were exposed to 10 uM EGCG for up to five passages that did not display any growth arrest. Population doubling time and senescence-related ${\beta}-galactosidase$ ($SA-{\beta}-gal$) activity in treated cells were similar to untreated cells. For anti-adipogenic effects, mouse 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes were induced to adipocytes in an adipogenic differentiation medium containing 10 uM EGCG, but adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells was not inhibited by EGCG treatment. For anti-tumor effects, the cancer cell lines were treated with 10 uM EGCG. PDT was significantly (p<0.05) increased in EGCG-treated SNU-601, AGS, MCF-7, and U87-MG cancer cell lines, except in MKN74 and A-549. The level of telomerase activity and cell migration capacity were significantly (p<0.05) reduced, while $SA-{\beta}-gal$ activity was highly up-regulated in EGCG treated-cancer cell lines, when compared to that in untreated cancer cell lines. Our results have demonstrated that EGCG treatment induces anti-tumor effects more efficiently as noted by decreased cell proliferation, cell migration, telomerase activity, and increased $SA-{\beta}-gal$ activity than inducing anti-aging and anti-adipogenesis. Therefore, EGCG at a specific concentration can be considered for a potential anti-tumor drug.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2018.04a
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• pp.3-3
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• 2018

For centuries, Panax ginseng Meyer (Korean ginseng) has been widely used as a medicinal herb in Korea, China, and Japan. Ginsenosides are a class of triterpene saponins and recognized as the bioactive components in Korean ginseng. Ginsenosides, which can be classified broadly as protopanaxadiols (PPD), protopanaxatriols (PPT), and oleanolic acids, have been shown to flaunt a vast array of pharmacological activities such as immune-modulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-diabetic, and antioxidant effects. In recent years, a number of ginseng and ginsenoside researches have increasingly gained wide attention owing to its unique pharmacological properties. Although good efficacies of ginsenosides have been reported, lack of target specific delivery into tumor sites, low solubility, and low bioavailability due to modifications in gastro-intestinal environments limit their biomedical application in clinical trials. As a result to this major challenge, nanotechnology and drug delivery techniques play a significant role to solve this problematic issue. Thus, we reported the preparation of poly-ethylene glycol (PEG) and glycol chitosan (GC) functionalized to ginsenoside (Compound K and PPD) conjugates via hydrolysable ester bonds with improved aqueous solubility and pH-dependent drug release. In vitro cytotoxicity assays revealed that PEG-CK, and PPD-CK conjugates exhibited lower cytotoxicity compared to bare CK and PPD in HT29 cells. However, GC-CK conjugates exhibited higher and similar cytotoxicity in HT29 and HepG2 cells. Furthermore, GC-CK-treated RAW264.7 cells did not exhibit significant cell death at higher concentration of treatment which supports the biocompatibility of the polymer conjugates. They also inhibited nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW64.7 cells. In addition to polymer-ginsenoside conjugates, silver (AgNps) and gold nanoparticles (AuNps) have been successfully synthesized by green chemistry using different m. The biosynthesized nanoparticles demonstrated antimicrobial efficacy, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant activity, biofilm inhibition, and anticoagulant effect. Special interest on the effective delivery methods of ginsenoside to treatment sites is the focus of metal nanoparticle research.In short, nano-sizing of ginsenoside results in an increased water solubility and bioavailability. The use of nano-sized ginsenoside and P. ginseng mediated metallic nanoparticles is expected to be effective on medical platform against various diseases in the future.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.79-85
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• 2009

Polyphenolic compounds are reported to have various pharmacological activities such as anti-oxidative, anti-cancerous, anti-inflammatory and anti-aging effects. Although numerous papers explore their functional roles in many different cellular actions, not many studies handle their structural features in anti-inflammatory responses. In this study, therefore, we examined structural role of substituted transstilbenes in their NO inhibitory and NF-${\kappa}B$ suppressive activities. Of 10 compounds tested, 4 compounds (cinnamic acid, resveratrol, piceatannol and curcumin) displayed NO inhibitory activities in a dose-dependent manner. Similarly, these compounds blocked LPS-induced cytotoxicity of RAW264.7 cells. All NO inhibitory compounds also inhibited $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$ phosphorylation, a hallmark for NF-${\kappa}B$ activation. However, these inhibitory compounds exhibited distinct suppressive pattern in tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$- or phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA)-induced NF-${\kappa}B$ and AP-1 activation. According to structure-activity relationship study, polarity and size of ring B seem to be important for diminishing NO production. Therefore, our data suggest that substituted trans-stilbenes can be developed as novel anti-inflammatory drug or further developed as lead compounds for another improvement.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.171-174
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• 2004

Angiogenesis, the formation of new capillaries from existing vessels, increases oxygenation and nutrient supply to ischemic tissue and allows tumor growth and metastasis. As such, angiogenesis targeting provides a novel approach for cancer treatment with easier drug delivery and less drug resistance. Therapeutic anti-angiogenesis has shown impressive effects in animal tumor models and are now entering clinical trials. However, the successful clinical introduction of this new therapeutic approach requires diagnostic tools that can reliably measure angiogenesis in a noninvasive and repetitive manner. Molecular imaging is emerging as an exciting new discipline that deals with imaging of disease on a cellular or genetic level. Angiogenesis imaging is an important area for molecular imaging research, and the use of radiotracers offers a particularly promising technique for its development. While current perfusion and metabolism radiotracers can provide useful information related to tissue vascularity, recent endeavors are focused on the development of novel radioprobes that specifically and directly target angiogenic vessels. Presently available proges include RGD sequence containing peptides that target ${\alpha}_v\;{\beta}_3$ integrin, endothelial growth factors such as VEGF or FGF, metalloptoteinase inhibitors, and specific antiangiogenic drugs. It is now clear that nuclear medicine techniques have a remarkable potential for angiogenesis imaging, and efforts are currently continuing to develop new radioprobes with superior imaging properties. With future identification of novel targets, design of better probes, and improvements in instrumentation, radiotracer angiogenesis imaging promises to play an increasingly important role in the diagnostic evaluation and treatment of cancer and other angiogenesis related diseases.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.4615-4619
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• 2013

Background: Artesunate, extracted from Artemisia annua, has been proven to have anti-cancer potential. Allicin, diallyl thiosulfinate, the main biologically active compound derived from garlic, is also of interest in cancer treatment research. This object of this report was to document synergistic effects of artesunate combined with allicin on osteosarcoma cell lines in vitro and in vivo. Methods: After treatment with artesunate and allicin at various concentrations, the viability of osteosarcoma cells was analyzed by MTT method, with assessment of invasion and motility, colony formation and apoptosis. Western Blotting was performed to determine the expression of caspase-3/9, and activity was also detected after drug treatment. Moreover, in a nude mouse model established with orthotopic xenograft tumors, tumor weight and volume were monitored after drug administration via the intraperitoneal (i.p.) route. Results: The viability of osteosarcoma cells in the combination group was significantly decreased in a concentration and time dependent manner; moreover, invasion, motility and colony formation ability were significantly suppressed and the apoptotic rate was significantly increased through caspase-3/9 expression and activity enhancement in the combination group. Furthermore, suppression of tumor growth was evident in vivo. Conclusion: Our results indicated that artesunate and allicin in combination exert synergistic effects on osteosarcoma cell proliferation and apoptosis.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.99-103
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• 2009

We evaluated the efficacy of pH-sensitive micelles, formed by methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly($\beta$)-amino ester) (PEG-PAE), as carriers for paclitaxel (PIX), a drug currently used to treat various cancers. PTX was successful encapsulated by a film hydration method. Micelles encapsulated more than 70% of the PTX and the size of the PTX-encapsulated micelles (PTX-PM) was less than 150 nm. In vitro experiments indicated that the micelles were unstable below pH 6.5. After encapsulation of PTX within the micelles, dynamic light scattering (DLS) studies indicated that low pH had a similar demicellization effect. An in vitro release study indicated that PTX was slowly released at pH 7.4 (normal body conditions) but rapidly released under weakly acidic conditions (pH 6.0). We demonstrated the safety of micelles from in vitro cytotoxicity tests on HeLa cells and the in vivo anti-tumor activity of PTX-PM in B16F 10 tumor-bearing mice. We concluded that these pH-sensitive micelles have potential as carriers for anti-cancer drugs.