• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.23-27
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• 2004

The urushiol-ethanol corpuscle of 320 nM in average particle size was prepared and concentrated by ultra homogenization and centrifugation. The cytotoxic profiles of this particle for use as anti-tumor agent have been evaluated in vitro in cultures of human fibroblasts (MRC-9) and celvical carcinoma cells (CUMC-3). The cytotoxicty assays revealed that the inhibitor effect of $10^{-5}$ M urushiol-ethanol particle on the growth of MRC-9 was hardly detected, while CUMC-3 cells exhibited over 50% of growth inhibition under the same conditions. In addition, a clear multiple-unit ladder pater of apoptotic DNA was observed for the urushiol treated CUMC-3 cells. Thus, the results indicated that urushiol inhibited growth of celvical carcinoma cells by inducing apoptosis, which is a mechanism observed with other typical antitumor agents.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.1513-1519
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• 2007

Yukwool-tang (YWT) is a traditional Chinese medicine, which has been used for patients suffering from a uterine disease in Oriental medicine. In the present study, it was examined the biochemical mechanisms of apoptosis by YWT in human cervical carcinoma HeLa cells. It was found that YWT could inhibit the cell growth of HeLa cells in a dose-dependent manner, which was associated with apoptotic cell death such as formation of apoptotic bodies and DNA fragmentation. Flow cytometry analysis confirmed that YWT treatment increased populations of apoptotic-sub-G1 phase of the cell cycle. We observed the p53-independent induction of p21 proteins, down-regulation of anti apoptotic Bcl-2 expression and proteolytic activation of caspase-3 in YWT-treated HeLa cells. YWT treatment also concomitant degradation and/or inhibition of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), phospholipase C-1 ($PLC{\gamma}1$), ${\beta}-catenin$ and DNA fragmentation factor 45/inhibitor of caspase-activated DNase (DFF45/ICAD). Taken together, these findings partially provide novel insights into the possible molecular mechanism of the anti-cancer activity of YWT.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.177-182
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• 2010

The Chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus) has been used in folk medicine to treat cancers. However, limited information exists on the underlying anticancer effects of the major component of I. obliquus in vivo. We hypothesize that the pure compounds ($3{\beta}$-hydroxy-lanosta-8,24-dien-21-al, inotodiol and lanosterol, respectively) separated from I. obliquus would inhibit tumor growth in Balbc/c mice bearing Sarcoma-180 cells (S-180) in vivo and growth of human carcinoma cells in vitro. To test this hypothesis, the growth inhibition of each subfraction isolated from I. obliquus on human carcinoma cell lines (lung carcinoma A-549 cells, stomach adenocarcinoma AGS cells, breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells, and cervical adenocarcinoma HeLa cells) was tested in vitro. Then, after S-180 implantation, the mice were fed a normal chow supplemented with 0, 0.1 or 0.2 mg of subfraction 1, 2 or 3 per mouse per day. All of the subfractions isolated from I. obliquus showed significant cytotoxic activity against the selected cancer cell lines in vitro. Subfraction 1 was more active than subfraction 2 and subfraction 3 against the A549, AGS and MCF-7 cancer cell lines in vitro. In in vivo results, subfraction 1 isolated from I. obliquus at concentrations of 0.1 and 0.2 mg/mouse per day significantly decreased tumor volume by 23.96% and 33.71%, respectively, as compared with the control. Subfractions 2 and 3 also significantly inhibited tumor growth in mice bearing S-180 as compared with the control mouse tumor. Subfraction 1 isolated from I. obliquus showed greater inhibition of tumor growth than subfractions 2 and 3, which agrees well with the in vitro results. The results suggest that I. obliquus and its compounds in these subfractions isolated from I. obliquus could be used as natural anticancer ingredients in the food and/or pharmaceutical industry.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2010

Objective : Ginseng is one of most widely used herbal medicine. Ginseng showed anti-metastasis activities. However, its molecular mechanisms of action are unknown. So we want to report the wild ginseng repress which plays key roles in neoplastic epithelial-mesenchymal transition process. Methods : Treatment of the human colorectal carcinoma LOVO cells and human gastric carcinoma SNU601 cells with the increased concentrations of cultivated wild ginseng extracts resulted in a gradual decrease in the AXIN2 gene expression. Results : Metastasis-suppressor genes, maspin and nm23 was not affected by the treatment of ginseng extracts in LOVO cells. Moreover, the mountain cultivated wild ginseng or mountain wild ginseng are similar in their inhibitory effects on the expression of AXIN2 gene, but are substantially stronger than cultivated ginseng. Conclusion : We described the novel mechanism of wild ginseng-induced anti-metastasis activity by repressing the expression of AXIN2 gene that plays key roles in epithelial-mesenchymal transition process.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.99-106
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• 2020

Ficus carica L. (fig) is one of the first cultivated crops and is as old as humans. This plant has been extensively used as a traditional medicine for treating diseases, such as cough, indigestion, nutritional anemia, and tuberculosis. However, the physiological activity of fig leaves on oral cancer is as yet unknown. In this study, we investigated the anticancer effect of methanol extracts of Ficus carica (MeFC) and the mechanism of cell death in human FaDu hypopharyngeal squamous carcinoma cells. MeFC decreased the viability of oral cancer (FaDu) cells but did not affect the viability of normal (L929) cells, as determined by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay and Live and Dead assay. In addition, MeFC induced apoptosis through the proteolytic cleavage of procaspase-3, -9, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), downregulation of Bcl-2, and upregulation of Bax, as determined by 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride staining and western blot analysis. Moreover, a concentration of MeFC without cytotoxicity (0.25 mg/mL) significantly suppressed colony formation, a hallmark of cancer development, and completely inhibited the colony formation at 1 mg/mL. Collectively, these results suggest that MeFC exhibits a potent anticancer effect by suppressing the growth of oral cancer cells and colony formation via caspase- and mitochondrial-dependent apoptotic pathways in FaDu human hypopharyngeal squamous carcinoma cells. Therefore, the methanol extract of Ficus carcica leaves provide a natural chemotherapeutic drug for human oral cancer.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1147-1152
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• 2004

To investigate the anti-cancer effects of aqueous extract of Cheonkumwikyung-tang (CKWKT) on the growth of human lung carcinoma cell line A549, we performed various biochemical experiments such as the effects of CKWKT on the cell proliferation and viability, the morphological changes, the effects on expression of apoptosis and cell growth-regulatory gene products. Results obtained are as follow; CKWKT treatment declined the cell viability and proliferation of A549 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. The anti-proliferative effect by CKWKT treatment in A549 cells was associated with morphological changes such as membrane shrinking and cell rounding up. CKWKT treatment induced apoptotic cell death of A549 cells in a concentration-dependent manner, which was associated with inhibition and/or degradation of apoptotic target proteins such poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, β-catenin and phospholipase C-γ1. Western blot analysis revealed that the levels cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 expression were induced by CKWKT treatment in A549 cells. Taken together, these findings suggest that CKWKT-induced inhibition of human lung cancer cell proliferation is associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death via regulation of several major growth regulatory gene products and CKWKT may have therapeutic potential in human lung cancer.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.111-117
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• 2003

Cisplatin is often effective in cancer treatment, but its clinical use is limited because of its nephrotoxicity. We have synthesized new platinum(II) coordination complexes (PC-1 & PC-2) containing trans-${\iota}$ and cis-1,2-diaminocyclohexane (DACH) as carrier ligands and L-3 -phenyllactic acid (PLA) as a leaving group with the aim of reducing nephrotoxicity but maintaining its anticancer activity. In this study, new platinum(II) complex compounds were evaluated for selective cytotoxicity on cancer cell-lines and normal kidney cells. The new platinum complexes have demonstrated high efficacy in the cytotoxicity against human bladder carcinoma cell-lines (T-24/HT-1376). The cytotoxicity of these compounds against rabbit proximal renal tubular cells and human renal cortical tissues, was determined by MTT assay, the [3H]-thymidine uptake and glucose consumption test, and found to be quite less than those of cisplatin. Based on our results, these novel platinum compounds appear to be valuable lead compounds with high efficacy and low nephrotoxicity.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.84-88
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• 2007

In this study, we investigated antimutagenic and anticancer activities of leaf mustard (LM, Brassica juncea) and leaf mustard kimchi (LMK) during their fermentation period. Methanol extracts were prepared from raw mustard, brined leaf mustard in 10% Gueun salt solution for 2 hrs, leaf mustard fermented at 15$^{\circ}C$ for 5 days after brined in 10% Guenun salt solution for 2 hrs (Fr-LM), fresh leaf mustard kimchi (Fresh-LMK) and optimally ripened leaf mustard kimchi fermented at 5$^{\circ}C$ for 30 days (OR-LMK). OR-LMK showed the strongest inhibitory activities against the mutagenicities induced by aflatoxin B1 in Salmonella Typhimurium TA100. LMs and LMKs inhibited the survival or growth of AGS human gastric adenocarcinoma cells and HT-29 human colon carcinoma cells in MTT assay and growth inhibition test. Among the extracts, OR-LMK and FR-LM exhibited strong antiproliferative effect against cancer cells, especially HT-29 cells. DAPI staining assay showed that OR-LMK induced apoptosis cell death of HT-29 cells in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that leaf mustards and leaf mustard kimchi have chemopreventive activities.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.30-38
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• 2021

Cudraxanthone D (CD) is a natural xanthone compound derived from the root barks of Cudrania tricuspidata. However, the biological functions of CD in human metabolism have been rarely reported until now. Autophagy is the self-degradation process related to cancer cell metastasis. Here, we elucidated the effects of CD on human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells' metastatic ability. We confirmed that CD effectively decreased the proliferation and viability of SCC25 human OSCC cells in time- and dose-dependent manners. Also, the metastasis phenotype of the SCC25 cell (migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition [EMT]) was inhibited by CD. To further investigate the mechanism by which CD inhibited the metastatic capacity, we detected the relationship between EMT and autophagy in the SCC25 cells. The results revealed that CD inhibited the metastasis of the SCC25 cells by attenuating autophagy. Thus, our findings produced a potential novel agent for the treatment of human OSCC metastasis.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.143-148
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• 2005

Heptaplatin, cis-malonato [(4R,5R)-4,5-bis (amino-methyl)-2-isopropyl-1,3-dioxolane] platinum(II) (SKI-2053R, Sunpla) is a new platinum derivative with antitumor activity comparable to cisplatin on various cancer cell lines. Preclinical studies suggest that it is less nephrotoxic than cisplatin. This study was undertaken to examine the combined effect of heptaplatin and ionizing radiation on two established human squamous carcinoma cell lines (NCI-H520, SQ20B). The cytotoxic activity of heptaplatin was concentration-dependent in both cell lines. When low dose heptaplatin was combined with high dose ionizing radiation, there was an additive cytotoxic effect on NCI-H520 cells (P < 0.05), while a moderate dose of heptaplatin and a low dose of ionizing radiation had an additive cytotoxic effect on the growth of SQ20B cells (P < 0.05). FACS analysis and DAPI staining showed that their additive cytotoxic effects were correlated with the induction of apoptosis. Further studies are warranted using heptaplatin and ionizing radiation in squamous cell carcinoma as a substitute for cisplatin.