• Molecules and Cells
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.30-38
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• 2007

Dipyrithione (2, 2'-dithiobispyridine-1, 1'-dioxide, PTS2), a pyrithione derivate, is highly bactericidal and fungicidal. In this study we examined its apoptotic effect on HeLa cells. PTS2 induced HeLa cell death in a dose and time dependent manner. ERK1/2 and p38 were markedly activated, but little JNK1/2 activation was detected. Suppression of p38 activation by SB203580 reduced the extent of apoptosis of the HeLa cells and also prevented induction of p21, release of cytochrome c, and cleavage of caspase-3 and PARP. Inhibition of ERK1/2 with PD98059 increased apoptosis, indicating that ERK1/2 activation has an anti-apoptotic effect on PTS2-induced HeLa cell apoptosis. PTS2 also inhibited murine sarcoma 180 and hepatoma 22 tumor growth in an animal tumor model. Our findings indicate that PTS2 possesses anti-tumor activity, that caspase-3 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) are involved in PTS2-induced HeLa cell apoptosis and that ERK1/2 and p38 have opposing effects on this apoptosis.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.143-148
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• 2008

Caveolin-1 (CAV1) is an integral membrane protein that may function as a scaffold for plasma membrane proteins and acts as a tumor suppressor protein. One causative factor of chemotherapy-resistant cancers is P-plycoprotein (P-gp), the product of the multidrug resistance-1 gene (MDR1), which is localized in the caveolar structure. Currently, the interactive roles of CAV1 and MDR1 expression in the death of cancer cells remain controversial. In this study, we investigated the effects of indomethacin on the cell viability and the expression levels of MDR1 mRNA and protein in a CAV1-siRNA-mediated gene knockdown hepatoma cell line (SK-Hep1). Cell viability was significantly decreased in CAV1-siRNA-transfected cells compared with that of control-siRNA-transfected cells. Furthermore, the viability of cells pretreated with CAV1 siRNA was markedly decreased by treatment with indomethacin (400${\mu}$M for 24 h). However, the protein and mRNA levels of MDR1 were unchanged in CAV1-siRNA-transfected cells. These results suggest that CAV1 plays an important role as a major survival enzyme in cancer cells, and indomethacin can sensitively induce cell death under conditions of reduced CAV1 expression, independent of MDR1 expression.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.293-299
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• 2002

Cytotoxic and antimutagenic effects of a novel cis-$\varepsilon$-viniferin and five known stilbenes, transresveratrol, trans-$\varepsilon$-viniferin, gnetin H, suffruticosols A and B, isolated from the seeds of Paeonia lactiflora Pall. (Paeoniaceae) were determined against five different cancer cell lines, and mutagenicity of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) in Salmonella typhimurium TA100, respectively. Six stilbenes showed cytotoxic activity in a dose-dependent manner, and especially did potent cytotoxic activity against C6 (mouse glioma) cancer cell with $IC_{50}$ values ranging from 8.2 to $20.5{\;}{\mu\textrm{g}}/ml$. trans-Resveratrol showed significant cytotoxic activity against HepG2 (liver hepatoma) and HT-29 (colon) human cancer cell lines with $IC_{50}$ values of 11.8 and 25.2 g/ml, respectively. In contrast, trans-$\varepsilon$-viniferin and cis--viniferin, and gnetin H exhibited marked cytotoxic activity against Hela (cervicse) and MCF-7 (breast) human cancer cell lines with $IC_{50}$ values of 20.4, 21.5, and $12.9{\;}{\mu\textrm{g}}/ml$, respectively. However, suffruticosol A and B had less cytotoxic effect against all cancer cells except C6. Meanwhile, six stilbenes exerted antimutagenic activity in a dose-dependent fashion. Of them, trans-resveratrol exhibited the strongest antimutagenic effect against MNNG with $IC_{50}$ value of $27.0{\;}{\mu\textrm{g}}/plate$, while other five resveratrol oligomers also did moderate antimutagenic activity with $IC_{50}$ values ranging from 31.7 to $35.2{\;}{\mu\textrm{g}}/plate$.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.349-354
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• 2006

The aromatic hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that mediates many of the biological and toxicological effects of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD, dioxin) and related chemicals. The application of recombinant reporter plasmid such as the firefly luciferase gene has proven to be a very effective method to detect these chemicals. The bioassay system, CALUX, is sensitive in directly detecting AhR-agonists from a variety of environmental and biologic materials. However, responses of the AhR-dependent bioassays are dependent on the cell types used. Thus, we developed a sensitive bioassay using the recombinant mouse hepatoma cell (Hepa1c1c7) for the determination of dioxins. The recombinant cell line was stably transfected with firefly luciferase reporter gene (pGudLuc1.1). The transfected cells showed the highest induction of luciferase activity at 4.5 hr and a decrease beyond this time point. The system showed the highest sensitivity of detection ever reported. Upon TCDD exposure cells showed 2 fold increase at 10 pM and 7 fold increase at 100 pM, respectively. The passage number after the transfection played an important role in the sensitivity. The increase of passage number tended to increase the sensitivity of the cells up to 15. The media without phenol red showed a higher induction rate than with phenol red, suggesting the preferable use of phenol red-free media for the bioassay. Since each of the assays has unique characteristics that make them suitable for some screening applications and not others, development of sensitive bioanalytical methods based on a variety of cellular systems in a key to the successful determination of dioxins. The bioassay system developed in this study will contribute to further development of successful screening the AhR agonists among the environmental mixture. In addition, the rapid and sensitive nature of this cellular system can be applied as a valuable tool to screen the dioxin-like moieties among the prodrugs at the initial stage, thereby expediting the new drug discovery.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.1046-1051
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• 2011

Diallyl disulfide (DADS), the most prevalent oil-soluble organosulfur compound in garlic, is known to have diverse biological activities, including anticarcinogenic, antiatherosclerotic, antiinflammatory, and antioxidant actions. In this study, we investigated the effect of DADS on the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in human liver hepatoma cell line HepG2. Treatment of HepG2 cells by DADS evoked a dose-dependent growth inhibition without significant toxicity to the cells, and also induced the expression of transcription factor Nrf2. However, DADS did not have any enhancing effect on transcription and translation of HO-1 expression in HepG2 cells. In addition, DADS efficiently blocked protein synthesis of HO-1 in HepG2 cells stimulated by CoPP or hemin. But, DADS did not decrease the content of transcripts of HO-1 gene stimulated by CoPP, with accumulation of Nrf2 and small Maf in the nucleus. Based on these results, we conclude that DADS inhibits HO-1 expression by modulation of translational level of CoPP or hemin-induced HO-1 expression in HepG2 cells.

• Proceedings of the Ginseng society Conference
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• 1998.06a
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• pp.231-243
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• 1998

In the present study, we provide evidence that ginsenoside $Rh_2$ (G-$Rh_2$) as well as staurosporine induces apoptosis of human hepatoma SK-HEP-1 cells by caspase 3-mediated processing of $p21^{WAFI/CIPI}$ in the early stage of apoptosls. Immunoblottings showed that G-$Rh_2$ as well as statrosporine induced the processing of caspase-3 to an active form, pl7. In stable Bcl-2 transfectants however, G-$Rh_2$ induced DNA fragmentation, while staurosporine did not. In the early stage of apoptosis, $p21^{WAFI/CIPI}$ was detected to undergo proteolytic processing specifically conducted by caspase-3. $p21^{WAFI/CIPI}$ translated in vitro was cleaved into a p14 fragment, when incubated with cell extracts obtained from either G-$Rh_2$- or staurosporine-treated cells. Cleavage was equally inhibited in both cases by adding Ac-DEVD-cho, a specific caspase-3 inhibitor, but not by Ac-YVkD-cho, a specific caspase-l inhibitor. Similarly, $p21^{WAFI/CIPI}$ was efficiently leaved by recombinant caspase-3 overexpressed in E. coli. Moreover, the endogenous $p21^{WAFI/CIPI}$ of untreated-cell extracts was also cleaved by recombinant caspase-3. Mutation analysis allowed identification of two caspase-3 cleavage sites, $DHVD^{112}$/L and $SMTD^{149}$/F, which are located within, or near the interaction domains for cyclins, Cdks, and PCNA. Taken together, these results show that G-$Rh_2$ as well as staurosporine increases caspase-3 activity, which in turn directly cleaves $p21^{WAFI/CIPI}$ resulting in elevation of Cdk kinase activity in the early stages of apoptosis. We propose that proteolytic cleavage of $p21^{WAFI/CIPI}$ is a functionally relevant event that allows unleashing the cyclin/Cdk activity from the inhibitor seen in the earlier stage of apoptosis, the event of which may be associated with the triggering mechanism for the execution of apoptosis.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.261-267
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• 2005

Phase II enzymes are transcriptionally induced by synthetic chemical agents and natural products, and such induction plays critical roles in protection against chemical carcinogens and other toxic xenobiotics. To discover natural products for use as cancer chemopreventive agents, the ability of Citrus aurantium Linn (Jikak) to induce activities of quinone reductase (QR) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) in wild-type murine hepatoma cell line (Hepa 1c1c7) and Ah-receptor-defective mutant of the same cell line (Bprcl) was investigated. Hexane and chloroform fractions of C. aurantium Linn (Jikak) at doses not exhibiting cytotoxicity were effective inducers of QR (${\sim}1.8-fold$) and GST (${\sim}1.5-fold$) in Hepa 1c1c7 cells, whereas showed low QR induction potency in Bprcl cells, which indicates they have weak monofunctional action. Results suggest C. aurantium Linn (Jikak) as potentially useful cancer chemopteventive agent.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.691-695
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• 2002

This study was performed to examine the cytotoxic effects of the distilled pine-needle extracts against several cancer cell lines. First, cell lines including mice leukemic cancer cell line (L1210), sarcoma 180 and human monocyte-like cancer cells (U937) were tested using XTT methods in uitro. Pine-needle extracts were prepared by pressing the pine needles and distilling it at below 98$^{\circ}C$ and then added to the growth medium in a final dilution of 10, 20, and 40 times. Growth of three kinds of cancer cells was significantly inhibited by more than 50% with the addition of the extracts. Fifty six to seventy six % of inhibition was shown with the 40 times dilution of the extracts. Greater inhibition was achieved with the 20 times dilution (81~90%) and the 10 times dilution (77~89%) of the extracts. Next, other human cancer cell lines including 3 kinds of breast cancer cell lines (T47D, MDA-MB-231 and MW7A) and one hepatoma cell line (SNU-354) were tested with the 20 times dilution of the extract. T47D and MDA-MB-231 cell lines showed lower inhibition (12%) with the addition of the extract. However, MH7A and SNU-354 cell lines showed 64% and 72% inhibition with the extract, respectively. These results suggest that the distilled pine-needle extracts have strong cytotoxic effect on certain cancer cell lines and the intensity of the effect may vary depending on the process of the pine needle.

• BMB Reports
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.151-160
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• 2005

By a cDNA array representing 2308 signal transduction related genes, we studied the expression profiles of HeLa cells stably transfected by Hepatitis C virus nonstructural protein 4B (HCV-NS4B). The alterations of the expression of four genes were confirmed by real-time quantitative RT-PCR; and the aldo-keto reductase family 1, member C1 (AKR1C1) enzyme activity was detected in HCV-NS4B transiently transfected HeLa cells and Huh-7, a human hepatoma cell line. Of the 2,308 genes we examined, 34 were up-regulated and 56 were down-regulated. These 90 genes involved oncogenes, tumor suppressors, cell receptors, complements, adhesions, transcription and translation, cytoskeletion and cellular stress. The expression profiling suggested that multiple regulatory pathways were affected by HCV-NS4B directly or indirectly. And since these genes are related to carcinogenesis, host defense system and cell homeostatic mechanism, we can conclude that HCV-NS4B could play some important roles in the pathogenesis mechanism of HCV.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.81-88
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• 1997

NAD(P)H:quinone reductase (QR) is one of the protective phase II enzymes against toxicity that accomplishes the capacity of detoxification by modulating the effects of mutagens and carcinogens. The detoxification mechanism is that quinone reductase promotes the 2-electron reduction of quinones to hydroquinones which are less reactive. This study is to search new inducers of quinone reductase from natural products, which can be used as cancer chemopreventive agents. Plant extracts were evaluated by using quinone reductase generating system With Hepa 1c1c7 murine hepatoma cell lines for enzyme inducing properties and crystal violet staining method for the measurement of cytotoxicity provoked. We have tested approximately 106 kinds of natural products after partition into n-hexane, ethyl acetate and aqueous layers from 100% methanol extracts of natural products. The ethyl acetate fractions of Vitex rotundifolia $(fruits,\;2FC:\;12.7\;{\mu}g/ml)$, Cnidium officinale $(aerial\;parts,\;2FC:\;10.5\;{\mu}g/ml)$, Chrysanthemum sinese $(flowers,\;2FC:\;17.4{\mu}g/ml)$ and the hexane fractions of Angelica gigas $(roots,\;2FC:\;13.2\;{\mu}g/ml)$, Smilax china $(roots,\;2FC:\;l1.9\;{\mu}g/ml)$, Sophora flavescens $(roots,\;2FC:\;16.3\;{\mu}g/ml)$ revealed the significant induction of quinone reductase in a murine hepatic Hepa 1c1c7 cell culture system.