• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.7-15
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• 2019

Portulaca oleracea L. (PO) or Purslane is an annual grassy plant that is distributed in many parts of the world, especially the tropical and subtropical areas. PO has some pharmacological properties such as analgesic, antibacterial, skeletal muscle-relaxant, wound-healing, anti- inflammatory and a radical scavenger. This review article is focused on the anti-inflammatory, immuno-modulatory, anti-oxidant and anti-tumor activities of the PO. Anti-inflammatory, immuno-modulatory, anti-oxidant and Anti-tumor effects of PO were searched using various databases until the end of August 2018. The online literature was searched using PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Google Scholar and Web of Science. Our review showed that PO exerts its effects through anti-inflammatory properties and balancing the adaptive and innate immune system depending on situations. PO acts as immune-modulator and anti-oxidant agent in both inflammatory states by the dominance of Th2 response such as asthma, cancer and atopic dermatitis and evoked Th1 disorders including hepatitis and multiple sclerosis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9667-9672
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• 2014

Background: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is a malignant gastrointestinal cancer with significant morbidity and mortality. Despite severe side effects of chemotherapy, the use of immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy has emerged as a common clinical treatment. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of the combined doxorubicin and interferon-${\alpha}$ (IFN-${\alpha}$) therapy on murine pancreatic cancer Panc02 cells in vitro and in vivo and underlying mechanisms. Materials and Methods: A Panc02-bearing mouse model was established to determine whether doxorubicin and interferon-${\alpha}$ (IFN-${\alpha}$) could effectively inhibit tumor growth in vivo. Cytotoxicity of natural killer (NK) cells and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) was evaluated using a standard LDH release assay. To evaluate the relevance of NK cells and CD8 T cells to the combination therapy-mediated anti-tumor effects, they were depleted in tumor-bearing mice by injecting anti-asialo-GM-1 antibodies or anti-CD8 antibodies, respectively. Finally, the influence of doxorubicin+interferon-${\alpha}$ (IFN-${\alpha}$) on the ligands of NK and T cells was assessed by flow cytometry. Results: The combination therapy group demonstrated a significant inhibition of growth of Panc02 in vivo, resulting from activated cytotoxicity of NK cells and CTLs. Depleting CD8 T cells or NK cells reduced the anticancer effects mediated by immunochemotherapy. Furthermore, the doxorubicin+IFN-a treatment increased the expression of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC I) and NKG2D ligands on Panc02 cells, suggesting that the combined therapy may be a potential strategy for enhancing immunogenicity of tumors. All these data indicate that the combination therapy using doxorubicin and interferon-${\alpha}$ (IFN-${\alpha}$) may be a potential strategy for treating pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

• Mycobiology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.106-109
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• 2008

The anti-tumor effects of exo- (EX) and endo-biopolymers (EN) produced from submerged mycelial cultures of Ganoderma applanatum (GA), Collybia confluens (CC), and Pleurotus eryngii (PE) were studied using Sarcoma 180 bearing mice. Solid tumor growth was inhibited most effectively when 40 mg/kg body weight (BW) of GA-EX or PE-EN was administered to the intraperitoneal (i.p.) cavity of BALB/c mice. The spleen and liver indexes were increased in mice following i.p. administration of GA-EX and PE-EN fractions. GA-EX and PE-EN reduced the tumor formation by 30.7% and 29.4%, respectively. GA-EX and PE-EN increased the natural killer (NK) cell activity of splenocytes by 41.3% and 28.9%, respectively.

• 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.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.99-106
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• 2002

Background : Nowadays a lot of research is based on natural substances or materials world wide since many kinds of side effects are accompanied by anti tumor chemotherapy. In Chinese medicine, Dioscorea bulbifera L is widely used to treat many kinds of cancer, but in Korea it is rarely used. Therefore, we need to scientifically identify anti tumor effects of Dioscorea bulbifera L. Objective : We aimed to identify anti tumor effects of Dioscorea bulbifera L on the stomach cancer cells through molecular biological methods. Materials & Methods : We used AGS, a stomach cancer cell from American Type Culture Collection. We injected the boiled extract of Dioscorea bulbifera L 5 ul(sample 1), 10ul(sample 2) to cultured media(ml) for 0,6,12,18,24 hours. We measured the killing effect on stomach cancer cells through Tryphan blue exclusion test and suppressive effect on viability of stomach cancer cells via MTT assay. Results : Tryphan blue exclusion test showed that each test group killed more stomach cancer cells than the controlled group with a dosage-dependent, but not significantly. MTT assay showed that each test group had a more suppressive effect on viability of stomach cancer cells than the controlled group without a dosage-independent, but not significantly. The cell cycle analysis via flow cytometry showed that the test group extended cell cycle, and there was no peak in M phase, the number of sub G1, G0, G1 phase cells increased a little, but not significantly. Conclusion : This experiment showed that Dioscorea bulbifera L. has an anti-tumor effect, but not significantly. This is in vitro experiment and basic experiment on Dioscorea bulbifera L. We hope more progressive researches on Dioscorea bulbifera L. will be conducted and its anti tumor will be more accurately identified.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2739-2744
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• 2012

Background: Renal-cell carcinoma (RCC) is resistant to almost all chemotherapeutics and radiation therapy. ${\beta}$-Elemene, a promising anticancer drug extracted from a traditional Chinese medicine, has been shown to be effective against various tumors. In the present study, anti-tumor effects on RCC cells and the involved mechanisms were investigated. Methods: Human RCC 786-0 cells were treated with different concentrations of ${\beta}$-elemene, and cell viability and apoptosis were measured by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Protein expression was assayed by western blotting. Autophagy was evaluated by transmission electron microscopy. Results: ${\beta}$-Elemene inhibited the viability of 786-0 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The anti-tumor effect was associated with induction of apoptosis. Further study showed that ${\beta}$-elemene inhibited the MAPK/ERK as well as PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling pathways. Moreover, robust autophagy was observed in cells treated with ${\beta}$-elemene. Combined treatment of ${\beta}$-elemene with autophagy inhibitors 3-methyladenine or chlorochine significantly enhanced the anti-tumor effects. Conclusions: Our data provide first evidence that ${\beta}$-elemene can inhibit the proliferation of RCC 786-0 cells by inducing apoptosis as well as protective autophagy. The anti-tumor effect was associated with the inhibition of MAPK/ERK and PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling pathway. Inhibition of autophagy might be a useful way to enhance the anti-tumor effect of ${\beta}$-elemene on 786-0 cells.

• Journal of Korean Traditional Oncology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.23-36
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• 2015

Purpose : The object of this study was to observe anti-cachexic effects of Kwibi-tang extracts (KBTe) on non-small cell lung carcinoma (squamous epithelial carcinoma), NCI-H520, xenograft Balb/c nu-nu nude mice. Methods : Three different dosages of KBTe, 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg were orally administered once a day for 42 days from 11 days after tumor cell inoculation. Six groups, each of 8 mice per group were used in the present study. Changes on the body weight, the epididymal fat weight and serum IL-6 levels were detected with the thicknesses of deposited cervical brown adipose tissue and their mean diameters to monitor the tumor-related anticachexic effects. Results : Deceases on the body weight and gains were also demonstrated in tumor-bearing control with increases of serum IL-6 levels, decreases of epididymal fat pad weight, atrophic changes of cervical brown adipose tissues. These are means that tumor-related cachexia are induced by tumor cell inoculations in the present study. However, these tumor-related cachexia were markedly inhibited by all three different dosages of KBTe treatment as compared with tumor-bearing control. 5-FU showed somewhat deteriorated the tumor-related cachexia in the present study. Conclusion : The results obtained in this study suggest that over 50 mg/kg of KBTe showed favorable anticachexic effects on the NCI-H520 cell xenograft. However, detail mechanism studies should be conducted in future with the screening of the biological active compounds in this herb.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1331-1336
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• 2015

Natural glycoproteins can induce apoptosis of tumor cells and exert anti-tumor activity by immunomodulatory functions, cytotoxic and anti-inflammation effects, and inhibition of endothelial growth factor. Given their prospects as novel agents, sources of natural antitumor glycoproteins have attracted attention and new research directions in glycoprotein biology are gradually shifting to the direction of cancer treatment and prevention of neoplastic disease. In this review, we summarize the latest findings with regard to the tumor suppressor signature of glycoproteins and underlying regulatory mechanisms.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.281-285
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to confirm the anti-tumor activity of an ethanol extract of Saussurea laniceps against pancreatic tumor and to isolate the active compound from S. laniceps extract. Treatment with S. laniceps extract and hispidulin inhibited proliferation of pancreatic cell lines, such as Capan-1, Capan-2, Panc-1 and S2-013 in a dose-dependent manner using the hollow fiber assay. Hispidulin showed typical hallmarks of apoptotic cell death a significant anti-tumor activity on Capan-2 cells at a dose of 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg. S. laniceps has potential cytotoxic and apoptotic effects on human pancreatic carcinoma cells. Its mechanism of action might be associated with the apoptotic cell death through DNA fragmentation.

• Journal of Radiopharmaceuticals and Molecular Probes
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.113-119
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• 2019

During tumor progression various immunosuppressive cells are recruited to a tumor microenvironment (TME). Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are particularly abundant in TME. Based on their function, macrophages are categorized into two phenotypes: tumoricidal M1 and tumor-supportive M2. Generally, TAMs closely resemble M2-macrophages and lead to tumor growth. However, their phenotype can be changed by immune activator from M2 to M1 and thus promote tumor immunotherapy. Ginseng extracts are well known for its anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory effects from numerous reported studies. However, the mechanism of their effects is still not clear. Recently, some studies suggested that ginseng extracts induced immune activation as well as anti-tumor activities by a repolarization of activated macrophage from M2 phenotype to M1 phenotype. But, further verification about the mechanism as to how ginseng extracts can stimulate the immune response is still needed. In this study, we investigated whether ginseng extracts can alter the phenotype from M2 macrophages to M1 macrophages in mice by using a radiolabeled liposome. And we also evaluated the potential of radiolabeled liposome as a nuclear imaging agent to monitor the transition of phenotype of TAMs. In conclusion, the ginseng extracts seem to change the phenotype of macrophages from M2 to M1 like as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in mice.