scholarly journals Anticancer Effect of Mountain Ginseng on Human Breast Cancer: Comparison with Farm-Cultivated Ginseng

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Jungeun Kim ◽  
Jae-Myung Yoo ◽  
Jin Soo Kim ◽  
Sun-Gun Kim ◽  
Jong Eel Park ◽  
...  

Mountain ginseng has been used generally as a pharmacopuncture for cancer therapy in clinical practice in Northeast Asia. Nonetheless, there have been few scientific reports for the anticancer action of mountain ginseng. In this study, we investigated whether mountain ginseng extract (MGE) could inhibit the growth of breast cancer in in vitro and in vivo models. MGE showed stronger cytotoxicity than farm-cultivated ginseng extract (FGE) through promoting ROS generation. Also MGE dose-dependently brought about mitochondrial dysfunction in MCF-7 cells. In addition, MGE induced apoptosis through enhancing the activities of caspase-3/7 by regulation of expression of Bcl-2, Bax, cytochrome c, and cleaved caspase-3 in the MCF-7 cells. Consistent with the in vitro results, MGE significantly reduced tumor weights compared with FGE in mice transplanted with MCF-7 cells, and it regulated the expression of apoptosis-related proteins, such as Bcl-2, Bax, cytochrome c, cleaved caspase-3, and cleaved PARP, in the tumor tissues. Additionally, MGE included higher total ginsenoside contents than FGE. In conclusion, MGE, which is richer in ginsenosides, exerts a stronger anticancer action than FGE in breast cancer. The anticancer action of MGE may be closely correlated with caspase-mediated apoptosis through upregulating ROS generation. Therefore, these findings may be helpful for a clinical understanding of the anticancer mechanism of MGE for breast cancer patients.

Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 1776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Seifaddinipour ◽  
Reyhaneh Farghadani ◽  
Farideh Namvar ◽  
Jamaludin Bin Mohamad ◽  
Nur Airina Muhamad

Pistacia (Pistacia vera) hulls (PV) is a health product that has been determined to contain bioactive phytochemicals which have fundamental importance for biomedical use. In this study, PV ethyl acetate extraction (PV-EA) fractions were evaluated with the use of an MTT assay to find the most cytotoxic fraction, which was found to be F13b1/PV-EA. After that, HPTLC was used for identify the most active compounds. The antioxidant activity was analyzed with DPPH and ABTS tests. Apoptosis induction in MCF-7 cells by F13b1/PV-EA was validated via flow cytometry analysis and a distinctive nuclear staining method. The representation of genes like Caspase 3, Caspase 8, Bax, Bcl-2, CAT and SOD was assessed via a reverse transcription (RT_PCR) method. Inhabitation of Tubo breast cancer cell development was examined in the BALB-neuT mouse with histopathology observations. The most abundant active components available in our extract were gallic acid and the flavonoid quercetin. The F13b1/PV-EA has antiradical activity evidence by its inhibition of ABTS and DPPH free radicals. F13b1/PV-EA displayed against MCF-7 a suppressive effect with an IC50 value of 15.2 ± 1.35 µg/mL. Also, the expression of CAT, SOD, Caspase 3, Caspase 8 and Bax increased and the expression of Bcl-2 decreased. F13b1/PV-EA dose-dependently inhibited tumor development in cancer-induced mice. Thus, this finding introduces F13b1/PV-EA as an effectual apoptosis and antitumor active agent against breast cancer.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aijun Chen ◽  
Shushu Zhang ◽  
Dandan Zhang ◽  
Xingjiang Hu ◽  
Nana Xu ◽  
...  

Abstract Many studies have shown that hederacolchiside A1 (HA1) is an important anticancer saponin, although its mechanism of action and in vivo investigations are still lacking. Our previous results revealed that HA1 may have the potential to treat breast cancer. Therefore, we attempted to verify the potential anti-breast cancer effect of HA1 in vitro and in vivo. MTT, flow cytometry, DCFH-DA fluorescence microscopy, and western blotting were used to evaluate the activities and mechanisms of action of HA1. Athymic nude mice were used to demonstrate the antitumor activity of HA1 in vivo. HA1 exhibited significant cytotoxic effects on HepG2, MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, SKBr-3, HT-29, and HCT-116 cells, especially MCF-7 cells. HA1 blocked the sub-G1 and G0/G1 phases, induced apoptosis, promoted reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential of MCF-7 cells. HA1 upregulated Bax and downregulated Bcl-2 levels and activated caspase-9 and caspase-3 in MCF-7 cells Meanwhile, HA1 inhibited the phosphorylation of JAK2/STAT3 in MCF-7 cells. In addition, 50 and 100 mg/kg HA1 significantly inhibited the growth of transplanted tumors with inhibition rates of 46.95 ± 26.72% and 48.45 ± 22.36%, respectively. This preliminary study demonstrated that HA1 could inhibit proliferation and induce the apoptosis of MCF-7 cells via ROS-mediated activation of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway and JAK2/STAT3 inactivation. HA1 may therefore be developed as a novel agent for breast cancer therapy.


2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Yang ◽  
Quanfeng Zhao ◽  
Zhe Peng ◽  
Yunjiang Zhou ◽  
Miao-Miao Niu ◽  
...  

Chemoresistance is a major therapeutic obstacle in the treatment of breast cancer. Therefore, how to overcome chemoresistance is a problem to be solved. Here, a glutathione (GSH)/cathepsin B (CB) dual-controlled nanomedicine formed by cyclic disulfide-bridged peptide (cyclic-1a) as a potent anticancer agent is reported. Under the sequential treatment of GSH and CB, cyclic-1a can efficiently self-assemble into nanofibers. In vitro studies show that cyclic-1a promotes the apoptosis of MCF-7/DOX cells by inducing the cleavages of caspase-3 and PARP. In vivo studies confirm that cyclic-1a significantly inhibits the progression of MCF-7/DOX cells-derived xenograft in nude mice, with no obvious adverse reactions. This study provides a paradigm of GSH/CB dual-controlled nanomedicine for high-efficacy and low-toxic DOX-resistant breast cancer therapy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxia Jin ◽  
Yingze Wei ◽  
Yushan Liu ◽  
Yali Chen ◽  
Bin Zhao ◽  
...  

Background and Purpose: Although limited by side effects and development of resistance, doxorubicin still represent the most common chemotherapy for breast cancer. Thus, the identification of critical molecules to alleviate doxorubicin resistance is crucial. Here, we provide a molecular rationale for the breast cancer patients potentially benefitting from doxorubicin based on the expression levels of SIRT1, a identified member of longevity genes. Methods: SIRT1-overexpressed and SIRT1-knockdown breast cancer cells were established to investigate the functions of SIRT1 in regulating doxorubicin resistance both in vitro and in vivo. Cell proliferation was analyzed via CCK8 assay, cell apoptosis was studied by TUNEL anslysis. Molecule interaction was analyzed through co-immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence techniques. Sensibility to doxorubicin was assessed in vivo through nude mice tumorigenicity experiment. Results:: First, SIRT1 was found higher-expressed in breast cancer doxorubicin-resistant cells MCF-7/ADR than that in doxorubicin- sensitive cells MCF-7. Moreover, SIRT1-knockdown MCF-7/ADR cells showed higher susceptible to doxorubicin both in vitro and in vivo models, whereas overexpressing of SIRT1 obviously inhibited this phenotype. Accordingly, SIRT1 was found interacted with Akt, consequently promoted the activity of Akt in MCF-7/ADR cells in vitro and positively correlated with the expression of P-Akt in vivo. Reversion the activity of Akt partially downturned the doxorubicin-resistant effects mediated by SIRT1. Conclusion: This investigation suggested the value of SIRT1 as biomarker of response to doxorubicin, leading to the development of new tools for the management of breast cancer patients.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 1483-1493
Author(s):  
Ricardo Imbroisi Filho ◽  
Daniel T.G. Gonzaga ◽  
Thainá M. Demaria ◽  
João G.B. Leandro ◽  
Dora C.S. Costa ◽  
...  

Background: Cancer is a major cause of death worldwide, despite many different drugs available to treat the disease. This high mortality rate is largely due to the complexity of the disease, which results from several genetic and epigenetic changes. Therefore, researchers are constantly searching for novel drugs that can target different and multiple aspects of cancer. Experimental: After a screening, we selected one novel molecule, out of ninety-four triazole derivatives, that strongly affects the viability and proliferation of the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7, with minimal effects on non-cancer cells. The drug, named DAN94, induced a dose-dependent decrease in MCF-7 cells viability, with an IC50 of 3.2 ± 0.2 µM. Additionally, DAN94 interfered with mitochondria metabolism promoting reactive oxygen species production, triggering apoptosis and arresting the cancer cells on G1/G0 phase of cell cycle, inhibiting cell proliferation. These effects are not observed when the drug was tested in the non-cancer cell line MCF10A. Using a mouse model with xenograft tumor implants, the drug preventing tumor growth presented no toxicity for the animal and without altering biochemical markers of hepatic function. Results and Conclusion: The novel drug DAN94 is selective for cancer cells, targeting the mitochondrial metabolism, which culminates in the cancer cell death. In the end, DAN94 has been shown to be a promising drug for controlling breast cancer with minimal undesirable effects.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yu Wang ◽  
Han Zhao ◽  
Ping Zhao ◽  
Xingang Wang

BACKGROUND: Pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) was overexpressed in many cancers, and high PKM2 expression was related with poor prognosis and chemoresistance. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the expression of PKM2 in breast cancer and analyzed the relation of PKM2 expression with chemotherapy resistance to the neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). We also investigated whether PKM2 could reverse chemoresistance in breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed in 130 surgical resected breast cancer tissues. 78 core needle biopsies were collected from breast cancer patients before neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The relation of PKM2 expression and multi-drug resistance to NAC was compared. The effect of PKM2 silencing or overexpression on Doxorubicin (DOX) sensitivity in the MCF-7 cells in vitro and in vivo was compared. RESULTS: PKM2 was intensively expressed in breast cancer tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues. In addition, high expression of PKM2 was associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer patients. The NAC patients with high PKM2 expression had short survival. PKM2 was an independent prognostic predictor for surgical resected breast cancer and NAC patients. High PKM2 expression was correlated with neoadjuvant treatment resistance. High PKM2 expression significantly distinguished chemoresistant patients from chemosensitive patients. In vitro and in vivo knockdown of PKM2 expression decreases the resistance to DOX in breast cancer cells in vitro and tumors in vivo. CONCLUSION: PKM2 expression was associated with chemoresistance of breast cancers, and could be used to predict the chemosensitivity. Furthermore, targeting PKM2 could reverse chemoresistance, which provides an effective treatment methods for patients with breast cancer.


Oncogene ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengpeng Zhu ◽  
Fang He ◽  
Yixuan Hou ◽  
Gang Tu ◽  
Qiao Li ◽  
...  

AbstractThe hostile hypoxic microenvironment takes primary responsibility for the rapid expansion of breast cancer tumors. However, the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. Here, using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis, we identified a hypoxia-induced long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) KB-1980E6.3, which is aberrantly upregulated in clinical breast cancer tissues and closely correlated with poor prognosis of breast cancer patients. The enhanced lncRNA KB-1980E6.3 facilitates breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) self-renewal and tumorigenesis under hypoxic microenvironment both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, lncRNA KB-1980E6.3 recruited insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA-binding protein 1 (IGF2BP1) to form a lncRNA KB-1980E6.3/IGF2BP1/c-Myc signaling axis that retained the stability of c-Myc mRNA through increasing binding of IGF2BP1 with m6A-modified c-Myc coding region instability determinant (CRD) mRNA. In conclusion, we confirm that lncRNA KB-1980E6.3 maintains the stemness of BCSCs through lncRNA KB-1980E6.3/IGF2BP1/c-Myc axis and suggest that disrupting this axis might provide a new therapeutic target for refractory hypoxic tumors.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096032712199945
Author(s):  
AT Aliyev ◽  
S Ozcan-Sezer ◽  
A Akdemir ◽  
H Gurer-Orhan

Apigenin, a flavonoid, is reported to act as an estrogen receptor (ER) agonist and inhibit aromatase enzyme. However, amentoflavone, a biflavonoid bearing two apigenin molecules, has not been evaluated for its endocrine modulatory effects. Besides, it is highly consumed by young people to build muscles, enhance mood and lose weight. In the present study, apigenin was used as a reference molecule and ER mediated as well as ER-independent estrogenic/antiestrogenic activity of amentoflavone was investigated. Antitumor activity of amentoflavone was also investigated in both ER positive (MCF-7 BUS) and triple-negative (MDA-MB-231) breast cancer cells and its cytotoxicity was evaluated in human breast epithelial cells (MCF-10A). Our data confirmed ER agonist, aromatase inhibitory and cytotoxic effects of apigenin in breast cancer cells, where no ER mediated estrogenic effect and physiologically irrelevant, slight, aromatase inhibition was found for amentoflavone. Although selective cytotoxicity of amentoflavone was found in MCF-7 BUS cells, it does not seem to be an alternative to the present cytotoxic drugs. Therefore, neither an adverse effect, mediated by an estrogenic/antiestrogenic effect of amentoflavone nor a therapeutical benefit would be expected from amentoflavone. Further studies could be performed to investigate its in vivo effects.


2004 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 793-810 ◽  
Author(s):  
MA Greeve ◽  
RK Allan ◽  
JM Harvey ◽  
JM Bentel

Androgens inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo by mechanisms that remain poorly defined. In this study, treatment of asynchronously growing MCF-7 breast cancer cells with the androgen, 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), was shown to inhibit cell proliferation and induce moderate increases in the proportion of G1 phase cells. Consistent with targeting the G1-S phase transition, DHT pretreatment of MCF-7 cultures impeded the serum-induced progression of G1-arrested cells into S phase and reduced the kinase activities of cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk)4 and Cdk2 to less than 50% of controls within 3 days. DHT treatment was associated with greater than twofold increases in the levels of the Cdk inhibitor, p27(Kip1), while p21(Cip1/Waf1) protein levels remained unchanged. During the first 24 h of DHT treatment, levels of Cdk4-associated p21(Cip1/Waf1) and p27(Kip1) were reduced coinciding with decreased levels of Cdk4-associated cyclin D3. In contrast, DHT treatment caused increased accumulation of Cdk2-associated p21(Cip1/Waf1), with no significant alterations in levels of p27(Kip1) bound to Cdk2 complexes. These findings suggest that DHT reverses the Cdk4-mediated titration of p21(Cip1/Waf1) and p27(Kip1) away from Cdk2 complexes, and that the increased association of p21(Cip1/Waf1) with Cdk2 complexes in part mediates the androgen-induced growth inhibition of breast cancer cells.


Oncogene ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Pantano ◽  
Martine Croset ◽  
Keltouma Driouch ◽  
Natalia Bednarz-Knoll ◽  
Michele Iuliani ◽  
...  

AbstractBone metastasis remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity in breast cancer. Therefore, there is an urgent need to better select high-risk patients in order to adapt patient’s treatment and prevent bone recurrence. Here, we found that integrin alpha5 (ITGA5) was highly expressed in bone metastases, compared to lung, liver, or brain metastases. High ITGA5 expression in primary tumors correlated with the presence of disseminated tumor cells in bone marrow aspirates from early stage breast cancer patients (n = 268; p = 0.039). ITGA5 was also predictive of poor bone metastasis-free survival in two separate clinical data sets (n = 855, HR = 1.36, p = 0.018 and n = 427, HR = 1.62, p = 0.024). This prognostic value remained significant in multivariate analysis (p = 0.028). Experimentally, ITGA5 silencing impaired tumor cell adhesion to fibronectin, migration, and survival. ITGA5 silencing also reduced tumor cell colonization of the bone marrow and formation of osteolytic lesions in vivo. Conversely, ITGA5 overexpression promoted bone metastasis. Pharmacological inhibition of ITGA5 with humanized monoclonal antibody M200 (volociximab) recapitulated inhibitory effects of ITGA5 silencing on tumor cell functions in vitro and tumor cell colonization of the bone marrow in vivo. M200 also markedly reduced tumor outgrowth in experimental models of bone metastasis or tumorigenesis, and blunted cancer-associated bone destruction. ITGA5 was not only expressed by tumor cells but also osteoclasts. In this respect, M200 decreased human osteoclast-mediated bone resorption in vitro. Overall, this study identifies ITGA5 as a mediator of breast-to-bone metastasis and raises the possibility that volociximab/M200 could be repurposed for the treatment of ITGA5-positive breast cancer patients with bone metastases.


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