• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제13권6호
• /
• pp.2979-2984
• /
• 2012

Recent studies have indicated a link between levels of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and development of the multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotype. The ATP-binding cassette sub-family G member 2 (ABCG2) is a major MDR-related transporter protein that is frequently overexpressed in cancer patients. In this study, we aimed to evaluate any positive correlation between COX-2 and ABCG2 gene expression using the COX-2 inducer 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) in human breast cancer cell lines. ABCG2 mRNA and protein expression was studied using real-time RT-PCR and flow cytometry, respectively. A significant increase of COX-2 mRNA expression (up to 11-fold by 4 h) was induced by TPA in MDA-MB-231 cells, this induction effect being lower in MCF-7 cells. TPA caused a considerable increase up to 9-fold in ABCG2 mRNA expression in parental MCF-7 cells, while it caused a small enhancement in ABCG2 expression up to 67 % by 4 h followed by a time-dependent decrease in ABCG2 mRNA expression in MDA-MB-231 cells. TPA treatment resulted in a slight increase of ABCG2 protein expression in MCF-7 cells, while a time-dependent decrease in ABCG2 protein expression was occurred in MDA-MB-231 cells. In conclusion, based on the observed effects of TPA in MDA-Mb-231 cells, it is proposed that TPA up-regulates ABCG2 expression in the drug sensitive MCF-7 breast cancer cell line through COX-2 unrelated pathways.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제15권17호
• /
• pp.7037-7041
• /
• 2014

Background: 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is the most commonly used drug in colon cancer therapy. However, despite impressive clinical responses initially, development of drug resistance to 5-Fu in human tumor cells is the primary cause of failure of chemotherapy. In this study, we established a 5-Fu-resistant human colon cancer cell line for comparative chemosensitivity studies. Materials and Methods: Real time PCR and Western blotting were used to determine gene expression levels. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay. Glucose uptake was assess using an Amplex Red Glucose/Glucose Oxidase assay kit. Results: We found that 5-Fu resistance was associated with the overexpression of Glut1 in colon cancer cells. 5-Fu treatment at low toxic concentration induced Glut1 expression. At the same time, upregulation of Glut1 was detected in 5-Fu resistant cells when compared with their parental cells. Importantly, inhibition of Glut1 by a specific inhibitor, WZB117, significantly increased the sensitivity of 5-Fu resistant cells to the drug. Conclusions: This study provides novel information for the future development of targeted therapies for the treatment of chemo-resistant colon cancer patients. In particular it demonstrated that Glut1 inhibitors such as WZB117 may be considered an additional treatment options for patients with 5-Fu resistant colon cancers.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• 제27권1호
• /
• pp.31-38
• /
• 2023

Carboplatin, an advanced anticancer drug with excellent efficacy against ovarian cancer, was developed to alleviate the side effects that often occur with cisplatin and other platinum-based compounds. Our study reports the in vitro characteristics, viability, and activity of cells expressing the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) gene after carboplatin was conjugated with polysuccinimide (PSI) and administered in combination with other widely used anticancer drugs. PSI, which has promising properties as a drug delivery material, could provide a platform for prolonging carboplatin release, regulating its dosage, and improving its side effects. The iNOS gene has been shown to play an important role in both cancer cell survival and inhibition. Herein, we synthesized a PSI-carboplatin conjugate to create a modified anticancer agent and confirmed its successful conjugation. To ensure its solubility in water, we further modified the structure of the PSI-carboplatin conjugate with 2-aminoethanol groups. To validate its biological characteristics, the ovarian cancer cell line SKOV-3 and normal ovarian Chinese hamster ovary cells were treated with the PSI-carboplatin conjugate alone and in combination with paclitaxel and topotecan, both of which are used in conventional chemotherapy. Notably, PSI-carboplatin conjugation can be used to predict changes in the genes involved in cancer growth and inhibition. In conclusion, combination treatment with the newly synthesized polymer-carboplatin conjugate and paclitaxel displayed anticancer activity against ovarian cancer cells but was not toxic to normal ovarian cancer cells, resulting in the development of an effective candidate anticancer drug without severe side effects.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• 제16권1호
• /
• pp.11-16
• /
• 2012

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are often characterized by the elevated expression of drug-resistance related stem-cell surface markers, such as CD133 and ABCG2. Recently, we reported that CSCs have a high level of expression of the IL-6 receptor (IL-6R). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of anticancer drugs on the expression of the drug resistance-related cancer stem cell markers, ABCG2, IL-6R, and CD133 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines. A549, H460, and H23 NSCLC cell lines were treated with the anticancer drugs 5-fluorouracil (5-FU; $25{\mu}g/ml$) and methotrexate (MTX; $50{\mu}g/ml$), and the expression of putative CSC markers was analyzed by fluorescent activated cell sorter (FACS) and the gene expression level of abcg2, il-6r and cd133 by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We found that the fraction of ABCG2-positive(+) cells was significantly increased by treatment with both 5-FU and MTX in NSCLC cells, and the elevation of abcg2, il-6r and cd133 expressions in response to these drugs was also confirmed using RT-PCR. Also, the number of IL-6R(+) cells was increased by MTX in the 3 cell lines mentioned and increased by 5-FU in the H460 cell line. The number of CD133(+) cells was also significantly increased by both 5-FU and MTX treatment in all of the cell lines tested. These results indicate that 5-FU and MTX considerably enhance the expression of drug-resistance related CSC markers in NSCLC cell lines. Thus, we suggest that antimetabolite cancer drugs, such as 5-FU and MTX, can lead to the propagation of CSCs through altering the expression of CSC markers.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
• /
• 제11권3호
• /
• pp.262-267
• /
• 2006

The objective of this study was to develop new self-organized nanogels as a means of drug delivery in patients with cancer. Pullulan (PUL) and deoxycholic acid (DOCA) were conjugated through an ester linkage between the hydroxyl group in PUL and the carboxyl group in DOCA. Three types of PUL/DOCA conjugates were obtained, differing in the number of DOCA substitutions (DS; 5, 8, or 11) per 100 PUL anhydroglucose units. The physicochemical properties of the resulting nanogels were characterized by dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The mean diameter of DS 11 was the smallest (approx. 100 nm), and the size distribution was unimodal. To determine the organizing behavior of these conjugates, we calculated their critical aggregation concentrations (CACs) in a 0.01-M phosphate buffered saline solution. They were $10.5{\times}10^{-4}mg/mL,\;7.2{\times}10^{-4} mg/mL,\;and\;5.6{\times}10^{-4} mg/mL$ for DS 5, 8, and 11, respectively. This indicates that DOCA can serve as a hydrophobic moiety to create self-organized nanogels. To monitor the drug-releasing behavior of these nanogels, we loaded doxorubicin (DOX) onto the conjugates. The DOX-loading efficiency increased with the degree of DOCA substitution. The release rates of DOX from PUL/DOCA nanogels varied inversely with the DS. We concluded that the PUL/DOCA nanogel has some potential for use as an anticancer drug carrier because of its low CAC and satisfactory drug-loading capacity.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제13권12호
• /
• pp.6369-6374
• /
• 2012

Vitexicarpin (3', 5-dihydroxy-3, 4', 6, 7-tetramethoxyflavone), a polymethoxyflavone isolated from Viticis Fructus (Vitex rotundifolia Linne fil.), has long been used as an anti-inflammatory herb in traditional Chinese medicine. It has also been reported that vitexicarpin can inhibit the growth of various cancer cells. However, there is no report elucidating its effect on human prostate carcinoma cells. The aim of the present study was to examine the apoptotic induction activity of vitexicarpin on PC-3 cells and molecular mechanisms involved. MTT studies showed that vitexicarpin dose-dependently inhibited growth of PC-3 cells with an $IC_{50}{\sim}28.8{\mu}M$. Hoechst 33258 staining further revealed that vitexicarpin induced apoptotic cell death. The effect of vitexicarpin on PC-3 cells apoptosis was tested using prodium iodide (PI)/Annexin V-FITC double staining and flow cytometry. The results indicated that vitexicarpin induction of apoptotic cell death in PC-3 cells was accompanied by cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase. Furthermore, our study demonstrated that vitexicarpin induction of PC-3 cell apoptosis was associated with upregulation of the proapoptotic protein Bax, and downregulation of antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2, release of Cytochrome c from mitochondria and decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential. Our findings suggested that vitexicarpin may become a potential leading drug in the therapy of prostate carcinoma.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제15권19호
• /
• pp.8155-8159
• /
• 2014

Background: Breast cancer is the serious health concern in India causing the highest mortality rate in females, which occurs due to uncontrolled cell division and can be metastasize to other parts of the human body. Interactions with estrogen receptor (ER) alpha are mainly responsible for the malignant tumors with regulation of the transcription of various genes as a transcription factor. Most of the drugs currently used for the breast cancer treatment produce various side effects and hence we focused on natural compounds which do not exhibit any toxic effect against normal human cells. Materials and Methods: Structure of human ER was retrieved from the Protein Data Bank and the structures of flavonoid compounds have been collected from PubChem database. Molecular docking and drug likeness studies were performed for those natural compounds to evaluate and analyze the anti-breast cancer activity. Results: Finally two compounds satisfying the Lipinski's rule of five were reported. The two compounds also exhibited highest binding affinity with human ER greater than 10.5 Kcal/mol. Conclusions: The results of this study can be implemented in the drug designing pipeline.

• 대한의용생체공학회:의공학회지
• /
• 제39권3호
• /
• pp.140-145
• /
• 2018

Cancer is a major burden of human disease worldwide. Current chemotherapy has severe side effects because the drugs affect whole body nonspecifically. In addition, the drugs to reach cancer cells are very limited. Over the last two decades, Drug Delivery System (DDS) using nanoparticles has suggested promising results to improve current limitations. In this study, we prepared PLGA nanoparticles with different charge properties and observed their stability and internalization effect to cancer cells. Results using Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the size and chemical composition of the nanoparticles. The stability of the nanoparticles in pH buffers were variable depending on charge properties. The nanoparticles showed different cytotoxicity and internalization effects to MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. In conclusion, we demonstrated the importance of delicately engineered nanoparticles for better DDS in cancer.

• 한국발생생물학회지:발생과생식
• /
• 제21권2호
• /
• pp.139-150
• /
• 2017

Metformin is the most commonly prescribed anti-diabetic drug with relatively minor side effect. Substantial evidence has suggested that metformin is associated with decreased cancer risk and anticancer activity against diverse cancer cells. The tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib has shown powerful activity for treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia and also induces growth arrest and apoptosis in colorectal cancer cells. In this study, we tested the combination of imatinib and metformin against HCT15 colorectal cancer cells for effects on cell viability, cell cycle and autophagy. Our data show that metformin synergistically enhances the imatinib cytotoxicity in HCT15 cells as indicated by combination and drug reduction indices. We also demonstrate that the combination causes synergistic down-regulation of pERK, cell cycle arrest in S and $G_2/M$ phases via reduction of cyclin B1 level. Moreover, the combination resulted in autophagy induction as revealed by increased acidic vesicular organelles and cleaved form of LC3-II. Inhibition of autophagic process by chloroquine led to decreased cell viability, suggesting that induction of autophagy seems to play a cell protective role that may act against anticancer effects. In conclusion, our present data suggest that metformin in combination with imatinib might be a promising therapeutic option in colorectal cancer.

• 약학회지
• /
• 제46권2호
• /
• pp.108-112
• /
• 2002

Drug resistance is one of the most significant impediments to successful chemotherapy of cancer. Multidrug-resistance (MDR) is characterized by decreased cellular sensitivity to anticancer agents due to the overexpression of P-glycoprotein. By employing a resistant subline of HCT15 to adriamycin (CL02), we undertook the screening for agents which were effective to multidrug-resistant cancer cells. As a result, a myxobacterial strain JW150 was selected for study since an activity against CL02 cells was discovered in the strain. Cytotoxicity-guided fractionation of the culture broth led to the isolation of cystothiazole A and melithiazole F. The producing organism was identified as Myxococcus stipitatus by taxonomic comparison with type strains of Myxococcus sp. as well as its morphological and physiological characteristics. Cystothiazole A and melithiazole F demonstrated potent cytotoxicity against certain human cancer cells with $IC_{50}$ values ranging from 0.03~ $0.72{\mu}{\textrm{g}}$/ml. Both compounds were interestingly as active against drug-resistant sublines CL02 and CP70 as against the corresponding parental cells.