• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2008

The present study investigated the antiproliferative effects of Crnum asiaticum var. japonicum against HL-60 human leukemia cells. The 80% MeOH extract or several solvent fractions from the C. asiaticum inhibited the growth of HL-60 cells, whereas the growth of HEL-299 cells, human embryonic lung fibroblast, was scarcely inhibited. When the HL-60 cells were treated with the $CHCl_3$ fraction, the BuOH fraction, the EtOAc fraction and the $H_2O$ fraction, DNA ladder, chromatin condensation and increase of sub-G1 hypodiploid cells were observed. Furthermore, the $CHCl_3$ fraction and the BuOH fraction reduced Bc1-2 mRNA level, whereas Bax mRNA level was increased. These results suggest that the inhibitory effect of C. asiaticum on the growth of the HL-60 cell might be mediated through the induction of apoptosis via the down-regulation of Bc1-2. Taken together, components of C. asiaticum might have a therapeutic potential for the treatment of human leukemia.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.147-155
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• 2016

Chaetominine is a quinazoline alkaloid originating from the endophytic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus CY018. In this study, we showed evidence that chaetominine has cytotoxic and apoptotic effects on human leukemia K562 cells and investigated the pathway involved in chaetominine-induced apoptosis in detail. Chaetominine inhibited K562 cell growth, with an $IC_{50}$ value of 35 nM, but showed little inhibitory effect on the growth of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The high apoptosis rates, morphological apoptotic features, and DNA fragmentation caused by chaetominine indicated that the cytotoxicity was partially caused by its pro-apoptotic effect. Under chaetominine treatment, the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio was upregulated (from 0.3 to 8), which was followed by a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential, release of cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol, and stimulation of Apaf-1. Furthermore, activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3, which are the main executers of the apoptotic process, was observed. These results demonstrated that chaetominine induced cell apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway. Chaetominine inhibited K562 cell growth and induced apoptotic cell death through the intrinsic pathway, which suggests that chaetominine might be a promising therapeutic for leukemia.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.197-203
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• 2016

Decursin is a major component of the root of Angelica gigas(Umbelliferae), which has been traditionally used in Korea as a tonic and to treat anemia, hemiplegia, and women's diseases. The objective of this study is to identify the anti-cancer mechanism induced by decursin on apoptosis of human leukemia and lymphoma cells. Cytotoxicity of decursin on U937, HL-60, MOLT-4, THP-1 cells showed the significant effects. First of all, $IC_{50}$ of decursin on four cell lines was 27.1, 32.4, 17.4, $15.1{\mu}M$, respectively. So $IC_{50}$ in THP-1 cells was the smallest among 4 cell lines treated with decursin($15.1{\mu}M$). In order to understand the apoptosis-mechanism by decursin, we examined the gene expression of bcl-2(anti-apoptotic), bax(pro-apoptotic) and p53(tumor suppressor)after treating the THP-1 cells with decursin(10, 50 and $100{\mu}M$). It was found bcl-2 gene was decreased dose dependently, the expression level of bax gene of THP-1 cells treated with $100{\mu}M$ of decursin was about 3 times higher than those of control, and p53 gene was increased In the same concentration($100{\mu}M$), p53 gene was increased dose dependent manner. In protein express, bcl-2 and p53 protein showed a tendency to decrease. bax was increased about 4 fold. Therefore decursin is a useful chemotherapeutic agent against leukemia.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.1343-1349
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• 2021

Cockroaches live in places where various pathogens exist and thus are more likely to use antimicrobial compounds to defend against pathogen intrusions. We previously performed an in silico analysis of the Periplaneta americana transcriptome and detected periplanetasin-5 using an in silico antimicrobial peptide prediction method. In this study, we investigated whether periplanetasin-5 has anticancer activity against the human leukemia cell line K562. Cell growth and survival of K562 cells treated with periplanetasin-5 were decreased in a dose-dependent manner. By using flow cytometric analysis, acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining and DNA fragmentation, we found that periplanetasin-5 induced apoptotic and necrotic cell death in leukemia cells. In addition, these events were associated with increased levels of the pro-apoptotic proteins Fas and cytochrome c and reduced levels of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. Periplanetasin-5 induces the cleavage of pro-caspase-9, pro-caspase-8, pro-caspase-3, and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). The above data suggest that periplanetasin-5 induces apoptosis via both the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways. Moreover, caspase-related apoptosis was further confirmed by using the caspase inhibitor carbobenzoxy-valyl-alanyl-aspartyl-[O-methyl]-fluoromethylketone (Z-VAD-FMK), which reversed the periplanetasin-5-induced reduction in cell viability. In conclusion, periplanetasin-5 caused apoptosis in leukemia cells, suggesting its potential utility as an anticancer therapeutic agent.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9885-9889
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• 2014

Background: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is an antitumor candidate in cancer therapy. This study focused on effects of TRAIL, as a proapototic ligand that causes apoptosis, in B-CELL chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells (B-CLL). Materials and Methods: A population of HEK 293 cells was transducted by lentivirus that these achieved ability for producing the TRAIL protein and then HEK 293 cells transducted were placed in the vicinity of CLL cells. After 24 hours of co-culture, apoptosis of CLL cells was assessed by annexin V staining. Results: The amount of Apoptosis was examined separately in four groups: 293 HEK TRAIL ($16.17{\pm}1.04%$); 293 HEK GFP ($2.7{\pm}0.57%$); WT 293 HEK ($2{\pm}2.6%$); and CLL cells ($0.01{\pm}0.01%$). Among the groups studied, the maximum amount of apoptosis was in the group that the vector encoding TRAIL was transducted. In this group, the mean level of soluble TRAIL in the culture medium was 253pg/ml; also flow cytometry analyzes showed that proapotosis in this group was $32.8{\pm}1.6%$, which was higher than the other groups. Conclusions: In this study, we have demonstrated that TNF secreted from HEK 293 cells are effective in death of CLL cells.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.37 no.11
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• pp.1408-1414
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• 2008

The anticancer properties of Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans extract were investigated. The extract from S. subspinipes mutilans by 80% EtOH was fractionated with n-hexane, dichloromethan ($CH_2Cl_2$), ethylacetate (EtOAc), and butanol (BuOH) in order. The EtOAc fraction showed the highest inhibitory activity (about 80%) against human leukemia (HL-60) cell growth at $50\;{\mu}g/mL$. To explore the mechanism of cytotoxicity, we used several measures of apoptosis to determine whether these processes were involved in EtOAc fraction-induced HL-60 cell death. Our results showed EtOAc fraction induced cell shrinkage, cell membrane blebbing, apoptotic body, and DNA fragmentation. The EtOAc fraction gradually decreased the expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL and led to the activation of caspase-3, -9 and cleavage of PARP. These findings suggest that S. subspinipes mutilans exhibits potential anticancer properties.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.1399-1404
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• 2006

The roots of Aralia continentalis (AC) have been used traditionally in Korean as a folk medicine for anti-inflammation and as an anti-rheumatic. In this study, we report that the ethyl acetate-soluble traction (ACE) of the methanolic extract of AC root inhibited the cell growth of various human cancer cell lines and induced apoptosis of HL-60, human promyelocytic leukemia cells. Its $IC_{50}$ values on growth inhibition were estimated to be $56.3{\mu}g/ml$ on HL-60, $87.2{\mu}g/ml$ on HepG2, $93.2{\mu}g/ml$ on HeLa, $135.5{\mu}g/ml$ on DU-145, and $135.8{\mu}g/ml$ on HT-29 cells. Interestingly, ACE showed no antiproliferative effect on normal lymphocyte cells used as control. Furthermore, nuclear DAPI staining revealed the typical nuclear features of apoptosis in the HL-60 cells exposed to $80{\mu}g/ml$ ACE, and a flow cytometric analysis of the HL-60 cells using propidium iodide showed that the apoptotic cell population increased gradually from 5% at 0 h to 16% at 12 h and 20% at 24 h after treated with $50{\mu}g/ml$ of ACE. TUNEL assay also revealed the apoptotic induction of the HL-60 cells treated with ACE. To obtain further information on the ACE-induced apoptosis, the expression level of certain apoptosis-associated proteins was examined using a Western blot analysis. Treatment of the HL-60 cells with ACE resulted in the activation of caspase-3, and subsequent proteolytic cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). The above results confirmed that the apoptosis in the HL-60 cells was induced by ACE, and that caspase-3-mediated PARP cleavage was involved in the process.

• The Journal of Traditional Korean Medicine
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.83-89
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• 2006

Many naturally occurring plant extracts are studied for their beneficial effects for health and particularly on cancer. Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, occurs in both normal and pathological conditions, including cancer. Dysregulation of apoptosis allows transformed cells to continually and uninhibitedly enter the cell cycle, thus perpetuating the sequence of mutation, genomic instability and, finally, oncogenesis. To investigate the apoptosis-Inducing effect of the extract of Fructus Trichosanthis (EFT) on leukemic HL-60 cells and its mechanism, HL-60 cells in vitro in culture medium were given different doses of the extract. The inhibitory rate of cells were measured by microculture tetrazolium assay, cell apoptotic rate was detected by flow cytometry, morphology of cell apoptosis was observed by DAPI fluorescence staining, and the activations of caspases and PARP were detected using Western blotting analysis. The extract could activate the caspase-3 and caspase-8, induce PARP cleavage, inhibit growth of HL-60 cells, and cause apoptosis significantly. The suppression was in dose-dependent manner. Marked morphological changes of cell apoptosis including condensation of chromatin and nuclear fragmentation were observed clearly by DAPI fluorescence staining especially. These results will provide strong laboratory evidence of EFT for clinical treatment of acute leukemia.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.1109-1119
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• 2011

In the present study, the pro-apoptotic effects of methanol extract of Prunus mume fruits (MEPM) in human leukemia U937 cells were investigated. It was found that exposure to MEPM resulted in growth inhibition in a concentration-dependent manner by inducing apoptosis. The induction of apoptotic cell death in U937 cells by MEPM was correlated with a down-regulation of inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family, such as X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) and survivin, anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, up-regulation of FasL and cleavage of Bid. MEPM treatment also induced the proteolytic activation of caspase-3, caspase-8 and caspase-9, and degradation of caspase-3 substrate proteins, such as poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and ${\beta}$-catenin. In addition, apoptotic cell death induced by MEPM was significantly inhibited by z-DEVD-fmk, a caspase-3 specific inhibitor, which demonstrates the important role of caspase-3 in the apoptotic process by MEPM in U937 cells. Taken together, these findings suggest that P. mume extracts may be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for the control of human leukemia cells and further studies will be needed to identify the active compounds.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.725-737
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• 2020

Background: T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a kind of aggressive hematological cancer, and the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway is activated in most patients with T-ALL and responsible for poor prognosis. 20(S)-Ginsenoside Rh2 (20(S)-GRh2) is a major active compound extracted from ginseng, which exhibits anti-cancer effects. However, the underlying anticancer mechanisms of 20(S)-GRh2 targeting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in T-ALL have not been explored. Methods: Cell growth and cell cycle were determined to investigate the effect of 20(S)-GRh2 on ALL cells. PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway-related proteins were detected in 20(S)-GRh2-treated Jurkat cells by immunoblotting. Antitumor effect of 20(S)-GRh2 against T-ALL was investigated in xenograft mice. The mechanisms of 20(S)-GRh2 against T-ALL were examined by cell proliferation, apoptosis, and autophagy. Results: In the present study, the results showed that 20(S)-GRh2 decreased cell growth and arrested cell cycle at the G1 phase in ALL cells. 20(S)-GRh2 induced apoptosis through enhancing reactive oxygen species generation and upregulating apoptosis-related proteins. 20(S)-GRh2 significantly elevated the levels of pEGFP-LC3 and autophagy-related proteins in Jurkat cells. Furthermore, the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway was effectively blocked by 20(S)-GRh2. 20(S)-GRh2 suppressed cell proliferation and promoted apoptosis and autophagy by suppressing the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in Jurkat cells. Finally, 20(S)-GRh2 alleviated symptoms of leukemia and reduced the number of white blood cells and CD3 staining in the spleen of xenograft mice, indicating antitumor effects against T-ALL in vivo. Conclusion: These findings indicate that 20(S)-GRh2 exhibits beneficial effects against T-ALL through the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway and could be a natural product of novel target for T-ALL therapy.