• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2979-2984
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• 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
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7037-7041
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• 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.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.5725-5730
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• 2013

Cancer patients often suffer from local tumor recurrence after radiation therapy. Cell cycling, an intricate sequence of events which guarantees high genomic fidelity, has been suggested to affect DNA damage responses and eventual radioresistant characteristics of cancer cells. Here, we established a radioresistant lung cancer cell line, A549R, by exposing the parental A549 cells to repeated ${\gamma}$-ray irradiation with a total dose of 60 Gy. The radiosensitivity of A549 and A549R was confirmed using colony formation assays. We then focused on examination of the cell cycle distribution between A549 and A549R and found that the proportion of cells in the radioresistant S phase increased, whereas that in the radiosensitive G1 phase decreased. When A549 and A549R cells were exposed to 4 Gy irradiation the total differences in cell cycle redistribution suggested that G2-M cell cycle arrest plays a predominant role in mediating radioresistance. In order to further explore the possible mechanisms behind the cell cycle related radioresistance, we examined the expression of Cdc25 proteins which orchestrate cell cycle transitions. The results showed that expression of Cdc25c increased accompanied by the decrease of Cdc25a and we proposed that the quantity of Cdc25c, rather than activated Cdc25c or Cdc25a, determines the radioresistance of cells.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.329-342
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• 2022

The liver is the predominant metastatic site for pancreatic cancer. However, the factors that determine the liver metastasis and the specific molecular mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, we used human pancreatic cancer cell line Hs766T to establish Hs766T-L3, a subline of Hs766T with stable liver metastatic ability. We performed RNA sequencing of Hs766T-L3 and its parental cell line Hs766T, and revealed huge differences in gene expression patterns and pathway activation between these two cell lines. We correlated the difference in pathway activation with the expression of the four core transcriptional factors including STAT1, NR2F2, GATA2, and SMAD4. Using the TCGA database, we examined the relative expression of these transcription factors (TFs) in pan-cancer and their relationship with the prognosis of the pancreatic cancer. Among these TFs, we considered GATA2 is closely involved in tumor metastasis and may serve as a potential metastatic driver. Further in vitro and in vivo experiments confirmed that GATA2-mediated transcriptional activation of Notch3 promotes the liver metastasis of Hs766T-L3, and knockdown of either GATA2 or Notch3 reduces the metastatic ability of Hs766T-L3. Therefore, we claim that GATA2 may serve as a metastatic driver of pancreatic cancer and a potential therapeutic target to treat liver metastasis of pancreatic cancer.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.219-227
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• 2024

Bladder cancer remains the 10th most common cancer worldwide. In recent years, metformin has been found to have potential anti-bladder cancer activity while high concentration of IC₅₀ at millimolar level is needed, which could not be reached by regular oral administration route. Thus, higher efficient agent is urgently demanded for clinically treating bladder cancer. Here, by conjugating artesunate to metformin, a novel artesunate-metformin dimer triazine derivative AM2 was designed and synthesized. The inhibitory effect of AM2 on bladder cancer cell line T24 and the mechanism underlying was determined. Anti-tumor activity of AM2 was assessed by MTT, cloning formation and wound healing assays. Decreasing effect of AM2 on lipogenesis was determined by oil red O staining. The protein expressions of Clusterin, SREBP1 and FASN in T24 cells were evaluated by Western blotting. The results show that AM2 significantly inhibited cell proliferation and migration at micromolar level, much higher than parental metformin. AM2 reduced lipogenesis and down-regulated the expressions of Clusterin, SREBP1 and FASN. These results suggest that AM2 inhibits the growth of bladder cancer cells T24 by inhibiting cellular lipogenesis associated with the Clusterin/SREBP1/FASN signaling pathway.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.1176-1184
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• 2013

Anti-hepatocyte growth factor (anti-HGF) monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are potential therapeutics against various cancers. Screening for high-producer clones is a time-consuming and complex process and is a major hurdle in the development of therapeutic mAbs. Here, we describe an efficient approach that allows the selection of high-producer Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines producing the novel anti-HGF mAb SFN68, which was generated previously by immunizing HGF bound to its receptor c-Met. We selected an SFN68-producing parental cell line via transfection of the dihydrofolate reductase-deficient CHO cell line DG44, which was preadapted to serum-free suspension culture, with an SFN68-expression vector. Subsequent gene amplification via multiple passages of the parental cell line in a methotrexate-containing medium over 4 weeks, followed by clonal isolation, enabled us to isolate two cell lines, 2F7 and 2H4, with 3-fold higher specific productivity. We also screened 72 different media formulated with diverse feed and basal media to develop a suboptimized medium. In the established suboptimized medium, the highest anti-HGF mAb yields of the 2F7 and 2H4 clones were 842 and 861 mg/l, respectively, which were about 10.5-fold higher than that of the parental cell line in a non-optimized basal medium. The selected CHO cell lines secreting high titers of SFN68 would be useful for the production of sufficient amounts of antibodies for efficacy evaluation in preclinical and early clinical studies.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.111-121
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• 2003

Recombinant single chain Fv (scFv) antibodies offer many advantages over mouse monoclonal antibodies such as faster clearance from blood, improved tumor localization, reduced human anti-mouse antibody (HAMA) response, and the availability to manipulate the scFv through genetic approaches. The recombinant phage display was constructed using lym-l hybridoma cells as a source of genetic starting material. mRNA was isolated from the corresponding antibodies hybridoma cells. VH and VL cDNA were amplified with RT-PCR and linked with ScFv by linker DNA to form ScFv DNA, which then were inserted into phagemid pCANTAB5E. The phage of positive clones selected with tube containing raji lymphoma cell and infected by competent E. coli HB2151 to express soluble scFv. The scFv lym-l was secreted into the cytosol and culture supernatant and shown to be of expected size (approximately 32 kDa) by western blot. An active scFv lym-l could be produced in E. coli with soluble form and high yield from hybridoma cell line, using phage display system. Immunoreactivity indicated that scFv lym1 showed a potential biding affinity against the raji lymphoma cell as its parental antibody (intact lym-l Ab).

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.3 s.70
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• pp.406-414
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• 2005

The genetic instability of cancer cells may be related to inappropriately activated DNA repair pathways. In present study, the modulated expression of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), a major DNA repair protein, in human cancer metastatic cells was tested. The expressions of Ku70/80, regulatory subunit of DNA-PK, and the Ku DNA-binding activity in various highly metastatic cell lines were higher than those in each parental cell line. Also, the expression of DNA-PKcs, catalytic subunit of DNA-PK, and the kinase activity of the whole DNA-PK complex in highly metastatic cells were significantly increased as compared to those of parental cells, suggesting that the enhanced DNA repair capacity of metastatic cells could be associated with aberrant use of DNA repair, which may mediate tumor progression and metastatic potential. Increased EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) signaling has been associated with tumor invasion and metastasis, and the linkage between EGFR-mediated signaling and DNA-PK has been suggested. This study showed that PKI166, the new EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor, modulated the expressions of Ku70/80 and DNA-PKcs and also revealed the chemosensitization effect of PKI166 against metastatic cells may be in part due to inhibition of Ku70/80. These results suggest that interference in EGFR signaling by EGFR inhibitor resulted in the impairment of DNA repair activity, and thus DNA-PK could be possible molecular targets for therapy against metastatic cancer cells.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4827-4834
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• 2012

Tumor suppressor genes have received much attention for their roles in the development of human malignancies. Gelsolin has been found to be down-regulated in several types of human cancers, including leukemias. It is, however, expressed in macrophages, which are the final differentiation derivatives for the monocytic myeloid lineage, implicating this protein in the differentiation process of such cells. In order to investigate the role of gelsolin in leukaemic cell differentiation, stable clones over-expressing ectopic gelsolin, and a control clone were established from U937 leukaemia cells. Unlike the control cells, both gelsolin-overexpressing clones displayed retarded growth, improved monocytic morphology, increased NADPH and NSE activities, and enhanced surface expression of the ${\beta}$-integrin receptor, CD11b, when compared with the parental U937 cells. Interestingly, RT-PCR and western blot analysis also revealed that gelsolin enhanced p21CIP1 mRNA and protein expression in the overexpressing clones. Moreover, transient transfection with siRNA silencing P21CIP1, but not the control siRNA, resulted in a reduction in monocytic differentiation, accompanied by an increase in proliferation. In conclusion, our work demonstrates that gelsolin, by itself, is capable of inducing monocytic differentiation in U937 leukaemia cells, most probably through p21CIP1 activation.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.3455-3459
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• 2013

Background: Smoking and smokeless tobacco use are almost always initiated and established during adolescence. More than 80% of adult smokers begin smoking before 18 years of age. The main objective of the present study is to assess the feasibility of preventing adolescent tobacco use with the help of a specially designed tobacco control program. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional survey on tobacco use and related health effects was conducted using a structured questionnaire in 13 randomly selected schools in Kannur district of Kerala. These students were followed for a period of one academic year with multiple spaced interventions such as anti-tobacco awareness classes, formation of anti-tobacco task forces, inter-school competitions, supplying IEC (information, education and communication) materials and providing a handbook on tobacco control for school personnel. Final evaluation was at the end of one year. Results: There were 4,144 school children who participated in the first phase of the study. The prevalence of tobacco smoking and chewing habits were 9.85% and 2.24% respectively. Ninety-one percent had parental advice against tobacco use and only 3.79% expressed desire for future tobacco use. The final evaluation witnessed a sharp decline in the current tobacco use as 4.68%. We observed a statistically significant difference towards the future use of tobacco (p<0.001) and awareness about the ill effects of passive smoking (p<0.001) among boys and girls. Further a significantly increased knowledge was observed among boys compared to girls about tobacco and oral cancer (p=0.046). Conclusions: The comprehensive school based tobacco control project significantly reduced the tobacco use pattern in the target population. School tobacco projects incorporating frequent follow ups and multiple interventions appear more effective than projects with single intervention.