In the present study, rutile phase titanium dioxide nanoparticles (R-TiO2 NPs) were prepared by hydrolysis of titanium tetrachloride in an aqueous solution followed by calcination at 900℃. The composition of R-TiO2 NPs was determined by the analysis of X-ray diffraction data, and the characteristic features of R-TiO2 NPs such as the surface functional group, particle size, shape, surface topography, and morphological behavior were analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and zeta potential measurements. The average size of the prepared R-TiO2 NPs was 76 nm, the surface area was 19 m2/g, zeta potential was −20.8 mV, and average hydrodynamic diameter in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)–H2O solution was 550 nm. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and morphological observations revealed that R-TiO2 NPs were cytocompatible with oral cancer cells, with no inhibition of cell growth and proliferation. This suggests the efficacy of R-TiO2 NPs for the aesthetic white pigmentation of teeth.

L-carnitine은 라이신과 메티오닌으로 생합성되며 골격근 과 심근을 포함한 다양한 동물조직에서 발견된다. L-carnitine이 포함된 식품으로는 양고기, 소고기, 돼지고기 등이 있고 근육발달에 도움을 주며 뼈를 강화하거나 대사작용을 도와주는 기능을 하여 영양 보조제로 많이 섭취하는 것으로 알려져 있다. 최근 L-carnitine은 제 2형 당뇨병, 골다 공증, 대사성 신경증후군 등의 다양한 질병의 약물로도 연구 되고 있으며 암에서는 치료 보조제로 개발되어있다. 하지만 대장암에서의 L-carnitine에 대한 효과 및 기전에 대해서는 명확하지 않고 연구된 바가 없기 때문에 본 연구에서 저자들은 L-carnitine의 효능을 인간대장암세포주 HCT116에서 규명하고자 하였다. L-carnitine은 세포 내 활성산소종 (ROS)를 높은 수준으로 증가시켜 세포 증식을 억제하였다. 또한, 세포 증식과 죽음에 관련한 단백질 ERK1/2와 p38을 유의적으로 활성화 시킨다는 것을 입증 하였다. 이때, ERK1/2 억제제(PD98059)를 처치하여 ERK1/ 2의 활성화가 활성산소종 발생 및 세포사멸에 중요하다는 것을 밝혔다. 따라서, 본 연구 결과는 L-carnitine이 대장 암세포주의 증식을 억제 할 수 있고 이는 대장암의 치료에 있어 잠재적인 치료 물질이 될 수 있음을 시사하며 이 과정에 관여하는 신호전달기전을 조사하여 항암의 치료기 전에서 활성산소종이나 ERK1/2, p38 단백질의 활성화의 중요성을 제시하였다.

In this study, the inhibitory effect of Paecilomyces tenuipes extract on PSA and angiogenesis-related factor expression levels were investigated in human prostate cancer cells, LNCaP. P. tenuipes extract significantly inhibited PSA expression in a dose-dependent manner. We also investigated the inhibitory effect of P. tenuipes extract on the expression of angiogenesis-related genes including VEGF, MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-1, and TIMP-2. P. tenuipes extract significantly down-regulated the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in a dose-dependent manner. On the contrary, P. tenuipes increased the expression of TIMP-1 and TIMP-2. Our findings indicate that P. tenuipes exhibits an inhibitory effect on angiogenesis in human prostate cancer cells.

Vegetable soup has been reported to have anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative and anti-cancer effects. In this study, five kinds of vegetable soup were developed using a new manufacturing process and compositional changes in raw material, and anti-cancer and immuno-stimulatory activities were evaluated. Cytotoxicity tests based on MTT assay revealed that all vegetable soups had strong inhibitory effects against CT26 mouse colon cancer cells, with soups including Solomon’s seal being most effective based on comparison of IC50 values. Apoptosis in response to vegetable soup was occurred by 3-5 fold on cancer cells compared to normal cells. Mouse splenocytes increased by 266-541% in response to addition of vegetable soup in an in vitro proliferation experiment. In co-culture with splenocytes and CT26 cancer cells, splenocytes increased by more than 280% in every vegetable soup treatment, while cancer cells decreased by about 60% and cytokines such as IFN-γ and IL-12 were secreted from splenocytes in high levels only in response to vegetable soup including Solomon’s seal. In conclusion, all vegetable soups developed in this study had anti-cancer effects, and vegetable soup including Solomon’s seal showed the strongest anti-cancer and immuno-stimulatory effects. These results suggest that functionality of vegetable soup could be increased by changes in manufacturing processes and raw materials composition.

Human malignant melanoma is an aggressive skin cancer which has been rising at a greater rate than any other cancers. Although various new therapeutic methods have been developed in previous studies, this disease has properties of high proliferation and metastasis rate which remain obstacles that have lead to a poor prognosis in patients. It has been reported that a specific Lactobacillus extract has anti-cancer and –metastasis effect in vitro and in vivo. However, previous research has not specified precisely what effect the Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) extract has had on human malignant melanomas. In this study, we showed that the LGG extract has anti-cancer and –metastasis effects on the human malignant melanoma cell lines, A375P and A375SM. At first, it was found that, while the LGG extract affects human neonatal dermal fibroblasts slightly, it induced the dose-dependent anti-cancer effect on A375P and A375SM by a WST-1 proliferation assay. As a result of a real-time PCR analysis, the expression patterns of several genes related to cell cycle, proliferation, and apoptosis were modulating in a manner that inhibited the growth of both malignant melanoma cell lines after the treatment of the LGG extract. Furthermore, genes related to the epithelialmesenchymal transition were down-regulated, and migration rates were also decreased significantly by the LGG extract. Our study showed that the LGG extract could be used as a potential therapeutic source.

This study was conducted to Jindo dogsprovide whether Jindo dogs can distinguish cancer cells, early detection. Jindo dogs were trained for cancer detection based on obedience, smell recognition, and tracking. Cancer detection training was designed to enable detection of lung cells (A549), prostate cells (PC 3), or breast cells (MCF7) among 9 pure media. Four Jindo dogs were trained by the same trainer and our different results were obtained (true positive, true negative, false positive, false negative). The accuracy was 85%, 82%, 92%, and 81% for sensitivity and 95%, 89%, 95%, and 93% for specificity. In addition, 4 Jindo dogs can find what is the cancer cell cannot distinguish 3 kinds of (A549, PC3, MCF7). Jindo dogs can detect cancerous cells through human’s breath and urine.

After being subjected to different cooking methods, small black beans (Rhynchosia nulubilis) were investigated in order to assess the effects of the retained bioactive compounds. Using uncooked, pan broiled, boiled, steamed, and pressure cooked beans, the inhibitory effects of MCF-7 cell migration were evaluated at protein concentrations of 40, 160, and 640 μm/mL, using the Boyden's chamber assay. All protein concentrations (40, 160, and 640 μm/mL) of pan broiled beans showed significant reduction (59.83, 32.48, and 21.37%, respectively) in the rate of cell migration to the lower chambers (p-value less than 0.001). Estimated cell migration rates correlated to the exponential decay between experimentally measured cell migration rates and converted samples. The range of estimated cell migration rate for each 100 mg/mL of cooked sample was as follows: pan broiled (21.16%), boiled (22.48%), steamed (22.48%), pressure cooked (29.52%), and uncooked (35.03%) beans. Our study indicated that selective modifications of cooking methods for small black beans, such as pan broiling, ameliorated the inhibitory effects of MCF-7 cell migration. This suggests that optimized cooking methods increase the nutritional contents of the cooked food.

Treatment of dextran sodium sulfate(DSS) on HeLa cells results to an enhanced susceptibility to Brucella(B.) abortus infection. An increase in the adherence, invasion and intracellular replication of B. abortus was observed in DSS-treated cells. Furthermore, a marked elevation in the intensity of F-actin fluorescence was also observed in DSS-treated cells compared with untreated B. abortus-infected cells. An upregulation of phagocytic signaling proteins by Western blot analysis demonstrated an apparent activation of ERK, p38α and JNK phosphorylation levels in B. abortus-infected DSS-treated cells compared with the control. Colocalization with LAMP-1 proteins was attenuated in DSS-treated cells upon intracellular trafficking of the pathogen compared with control cells. The results of this study demonstrated consistency with other pathogens. The uptake and intracellular replication of B. abortus is hypothesized to be stimulated by various dextran receptors such as C-type lectins that are involved in phagocytosis which can either be direct phagocytic receptors, modulators of the expression of other receptors or as opsonins leading to an enhanced internalization of B. abortus. The complexity of these interactions thus would warrant further investigation into the role of DSS in the pathogenesis of brucellosis. In summary, we conclude that DSS enhanced adhesion, phagocytosis and intracellular replication of B. abortus in epithelial cells which could lead to suppression of the innate immune system in chronic Brucella infection.

Colorectal cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality that accounts for over 9% of all incidences of cancer. Additionally, colorectal cancer is widely recognized as an environmental disease related to ill-defined cultural, social and lifestyle factors including physical activity, obesity, cigarette smoking and heavy alcohol consumption. Accordingly, natural phytochemicals and extracts have attracted attention because of their beneficial biological effects. Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a common supplementary medicine applied to increase bioenergetic capacity in various diseases. Therefore, in this study, we investigated whether CoQ10 treatment has any inhibitory effects and its related cellular mechanisms in human colon cancer HCT116 cells. A MTT assay revealed that CoQ10 slightly decreased the proliferation of HCT116 cells; however, glutathione- and superoxide dismutase- activity were unchanged in response to CoQ10 treatment. A DCF-DA assay revealed that CoQ10 slightly increased ROS release of HCT116 cells. However, in a nitric oxide (NO) assay, CoQ10 significantly increased NO production in a dose-dependent manner. The results of western blot analysis revealed that the protein levels of Bax, p21 and p53 were increased, whereas the protein level of Bcl2 was decreased suggesting that the CoQ10-mediated inhibitory mechanism is associated with apoptotic signaling. Taken together, our findings indicate that CoQ10 has an inhibitory effect on the growth of colon cancer cells via NO production that is associated with regulation of factors involved in apoptotic signaling including Bax, Bcl2, p21 and p53.

Programmed cell death (PCD) is decisive in eliminating affected cells in human cancers, whereas there are increasing cases of cancer-related death due to side effects of modern treatment methods. There is an urge for new methods of growth inhibition and elimination of cancer cells with a lower cytotoxicity to normal cells. Irregularity along PCD pathways plays a crucial role in cancer cell carcinogenesis. Apoptosis is a distinct cell death mechanism occurring in multicellular organisms and also called type one programmed cell death. Autophagy and paraptosis are non-apoptotic PCD occurring in multicellular organisms. Natural compounds are the fundament of pharmacological treatments, and flavonoids are natural polyphenolic compounds which are unique due to their diverse chemical structures and various biological active mechanisms like anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidative and much more. This gives an increasing number of studies indicating that some flavonoids from medicinal plants could be promising candidates for new natural anticancer drugs, which attract high interests of academic researchers and advanced users. An understanding of the underlying mechanism of PCD induced by flavonoids in cancer cells is important as it plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of many diseases. This systematic review is to report flavonoids and their derivatives as new anticancer candidates to stimulate PCD with a different mechanism based on the pharmacological evidence.

Recently, the area of marine resources has become concerned with sources for the next generation of the bio-industry. Until present, development of the marine resources has remained limited, although a large number of these resources are considered to have potential for various significant biological activities. Most marine sponges, marine algae and coral could be used to create specific compounds for survival against a harsh environment. Therefore, it was necessary that these materials needed to be elucidated with biological activities, such as like anti-inflammatory, anti-viral or anti-cancer effects for their utilization in the bio-industry. In this study, we screened extracts of marine resources for their anti-cancer effect on human colorectal cancer cells. These resources were collected at Kosrae of Micronesia on April, 2013 and extracted with methanol. Cytotoxicity of marine resources was observed. Of a total of 20 specimens, three specimens dose-dependently demonstration inhibition of cell viability. Furthermore, cells treated with these specimens for 48h were induced p53, p21, Bax and caspase-3. The results suggest that they involved p53-mediated apoptosis. Two positive specimens (1304KO-327 and 1304KO-329) were verified as the identical materials, which are Hyrtios sp. Unfortunately 1304KO-207 was not yet classified and needed to identify in the further study. There results suggested that marine resources with positive potential in anticancer effect would be good candidates as useful bio-resources.

Porphyromonas gingivalis is a gram-negative bacteria of rod shape, and grown in an anerobic condition. It colonizes in subgingival crevice and is known as a major pathogen causing chronic periodontitis. It possesses an invasive property and replicative potential within various cell types, presumably playing an important role in modulating biological behaviors of oral cancer. However, the pathophysiology of P. gingivalis in the malignant transformation of oral cancer has not been fully understood. In this study, we aimed to investigate molecular changes of oral squamous cell carcinoma cells induced by repetitive P. gingivalis infection that clinically resembles chronic periodontitis.

Tyrosol, a phenylethanoid and a derivative of phenethyl alcohol, possesses various biological properties, such as anti-oxidative and cardioprotective activity. Olive oil is the principal source of tyrosol in the human diet. However, so far the anti-cancer activity of tyrosol has not yet been well defined. This study therefore undertakes to examine the cytotoxic activity and the mechanism of cell death exhibited by tyrosol in KB human oral cancer cells. Treatment of KB cells with tyrosol induced the cell growth inhibition in a concentration- and a time-dependent manner. Furthermore, the treatment of tyrosol induced nuclear condensation and fragmentation of KB cells. Tyrosol also promoted proteolytic cleavage of procaspase-3, -7, -8 and –9, increasing the amounts of cleaved caspase-3, -7, -8 and –9. In addition, tyrosol increased the levels of cleaved PARP in KB cells. These results suggest that tyrosol induces the suppression of cell growth and cell apoptosis in KB human oral cancer cells, and is therefore a potential candidate for anti-cancer drug discovery.

Recently, the importance of inflammation in carcinogenesis has been recognized and studied extensively. As a result, a clear correlation between inflammation and carcinogenesis has been well established in some types of cancers. Despite a high prevalence of chronic periodontitis, one of the most common inflammatory diseases in the general population, there are only a few reports on the role of chronic periodontitis in oral cancer progression. In this study, we aimed to investigate genetic changes in oral cancer cells induced by repetitive Porphryomonas gingivalis infections to mimic chronic periodontitis in a clinical setting. Cells of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), the most common type of oral cancer, and P. gingivalis 381 were used for the present study. ID1 and ID3 were mRNAs of higher expression in the P. gingivalis-infected group compared to the uninfected control. These mRNAs have been regarded as important modulators participating in cancer progression. Future studies will provide an insight into the roles of the molecules we identified in oral cancer progression. Outcomes from these studies will also shed light on the significance of chronic periodontitis induced by bacterial pathogen, such as P. gingivalis, in progression of oral cancer and relevant molecular mechanisms underlying altered cancer cell behaviors.

A meningioma is the second most common primary intracranial tumor of the central nervous system. One critical obstacle in meningioma research and preclinical development of novel therapeutic agents is a relative lack of suitable preclinical in vitro and in vivo model systems. In the current study, we assessed the proliferative characteristics of patient derived five primary meningioma cancer cell lines (WHO grade I and II) from brain tumor lesions. All of the meningioma cell lines showed homogenous expression of meningioma marker, VIMENTIN. The GTG-banding analysis determined the existence of different patterns of chromosomal abnormalities in representative cancer cell lines. The almost of the meningioma cell lines showed homogeneously spindle shaped cells, except for M160425 which have two prominent cell morphologies, spindle and round. Population-doubling (PD) was measured for every passage. The M160425 cell line had significantly longer PD time (39.8 ± 0.9 h, P<0.05) than the other meningioma cell lines. Consistent with the PD time, we confirmed that mRNA expression of Ki67, the conventional proliferation marker, was significantly lower in M160425 cell line compared to the other cell lines. The correlation between the PD time and the abundance of Ki67 in the meningioma derived cell lines was negative, indicating higher Ki67 abundance and a shorter PD time. The patient derived meningioma cancer cell lines established in this study might contribute to understanding cancer biology and help the success in the clinic by explaining the slightly different clinical behavior among the patients.

β-carotene is present in carrots, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes. It suppresses many types of cancers by regulating cellular proliferation and apoptosis through a variety of mechanisms. However, the effects of β -carotene on oral cancer cells have not been clearly established. The main goal of this study was to investigate the effects of β-carotene on cell growth and apoptosis in oral cancer cells. Our results demonstrate that treatment with β-carotene induced inhibition of cell growth, and that the effect was dependent on β-carotene treatment time and concentration in KB cells. Furthermore, treatment with β-carotene induced nuclear condensation and fragmentation in KB cells. β-carotene promoted proteolytic cleavage of procaspase-3, -7, -8 and –9 with associated increases in the concentration of cleaved caspase-3, -7, -8 and –9. In addition, the level of cleaved PARP was increased by β-carotene treatment in KB cells. These results suggest that β-carotene can suppress cell growth and induce apoptosis in KB human oral cancer cells, and that it may have potential usefulness in anti-cancer drug discovery efforts.

해양생물을 포함한 천연물질은 신약개발의 원천 소재로서 매력적이며, 특히 무수한 미지의 해양생물들의 연구가 관심을 받고 있다. 기존의 연구에서 미크로네시아에서 채취한 해면동물 40여종에 대하여 항증식 효과를 다양한 암세포주에서 검색한 바 있다. 본 연구에서는 그 중 Cos-cinoderma sp.의 작용 및 그 기전을 살펴보았다. 특히, 암억제유전자 p53의 발현을 억제시킨 세포주(HCT116 p53KO 과 RKO-E6)에서의 차이점을 비교하였다. 세포생존률 시험에서 Coscinoderma sp. 추출물은 p53의 유무와 상관없이 암세포의 증식을 억제하였음을 확인하였다. 이 암세포증식 억제 효과가 p53 존재에 따라 다르게 나타나는지 알아보기 위하여 세포사멸 관련 단백질 발현양을 Coscinoderma sp. 처리한 각 세포주에서 비교하였다. 그 결과, Coscinoderma sp.를 HCT16 세포주에 처리하였을 때, p53과 Noxa의 발현이 증가하는 것을 관찰하였고, caspase-9이 분절되면서 감소하는 것으로부터 apoptosis를 일으킨다고 여겨진다. 반면, p53이 결핍된 HCT116세포주에서는 Coscinoderma sp. 에 의하여 p21과 mTOR의 발현이 증가되는 것을 확인하였고, 이는 senescence를 야기할 수 있다고 여겨진다. 본 연구로부터 Coscinoderma sp.는 p53의 존재여부에 따라 상이한 작용기전을 매개하여 대장암 세포주의 증식을 억제한다는 것을 알 수 있었다. 이는 새로운 항암제의 개발 가능성을 제시하는 것으로, Coscinoderma sp.의 활성 성분에 대한 지속적인 연구가 이루어 져야 할 것으로 보인다.

Rutin (3,3′,4′,5,7-pentahydroxyflavone-3-rhamnoglucoside) is a bioactive flavonoid from the plant kingdom. Rutin has been studied as potential anticancer agent due to its wide range of pharmacological properties including antioxidative, anti-inflammatory and anticancer. Autophagy is a conserved intracellular catabolic pathway to maintain cell homeostasis by formation of autophagosome. Processing of autophagy involves various molecules including ULK1 protein kinase complex, Beclin-1–Vps34 lipid kinase complex, ATG5, ATG12, and LC3 (light chain 3). Cargo-carried autophagosomes fuse with lysosomes resulting in autophagolysosome to eliminate vesicles and degrade cargo. However, the actions of rutin on autophagy are not clearly understood. In this study, we analyzed the effect of rutin on autophagy and inflammation in cancer cell lines. Interestingly, rutin induced autophagy in leukemia (THP-1), oral (CA9-22), and lung (A549) cell lines. TNF-α, key modulator of inflammation, was upregulated by inhibition of rutin-induced autophagy. Taken together, these data indicated that rutin induced autophagy and consequently suppressed TNF-α production.

본 연구는 인체 유방암세포 SK-BR-3, MDA-MB-231과 위암세포 AGS를 대상으로 국화과 식물 중 흰민들레(Taraxacum coreanum, TC), 고들빼기(Youngia sonchifolia, YS), 씀바귀(Ixeris dentate, ID) 추출물에 의한 증식 억제효과를 비교 한 후, 가장 억제효율이 높은 추출물을 선택하여 apoptosis 유도 효과를 조사하였다. 암세포의 증식 억제효과는 TC 추출물에 의한 영향은 약한 반면, YS와 ID 추출물에 의한 영향은 농도 의존적으로 증가하는 것을 확인하였다. 세 가지 추출물 중 가장 효과가 뛰어난 ID 추출물을 이용하여 추가적으로 농도 설정을 진행한 다음 이후 실험을 진행하였다. ID 추출물에 의한 apoptosis 양성세포를 확인하기 위해 DAPI assay를 진행한 결과, ID 추출물을 처치한 군에서 apoptotic body와 세포질 응축을 확인하였다. MTT assay와 DAPI staining의 결과를 바탕으로 ID 추출물이 SK-BR-3, MDA-MB-231, AGS 세포에서 apoptosis와 관련한 단백질 발현 양상에 미치는 영향을 확인하기 위해 western blot을 실시하였다. ID 추출물에 의해 SK-BR-3, MDA-MB-231, AGS 세포에서 pro-apoptosis인 Bax 단백질 발현은 농도 의존적으로 증가하였고, antiapoptosis인 Bcl-2 단백질 발현은 SK-BR-3 세포에서는 발현의 변화가 거의 없었지만, MDA-MB-231과 AGS 세포에서는 감소하였다. 세포사멸의 주요임상지표인 Bax/Bcl-2 ratio는 MDA-MB-231세포에서 가장 유의적으로 증가하였다. 또한, 손상된 DNA를 복구하는 단백질인 PARP의 발현은 감소하면서, cleaved-PARP이 증가하였다. 이러한 결과들을 종합하였을 때, YS와 ID 추출물은 TC 추출물에 비해 암세포의 생존을 효과적으로 억제하였고, 특히 ID 추출물은 낮은 농도에서도 암세포의 생존 억제효과가 우수한 것을 확인하였다. 또한, ID 추출물에 의한 유방암세포 SK-BR-3, MDA-MB-231와 위암세포 AGS의 생존율 억제는 apoptosis 유도를 통해 이루어 지는 것으로 사료되며,그 중 유방암세포 MDA-MB-231에서 apoptosis 유도 효과가 뛰어난 것을 미루어 보아, 유방암의 종류와 그 특징에 따른 차이를 보이지만 ID는 향후 유방암 예방 및 치료제로 개발 가능성을 제시하며, 추후 지속적인 연구를 통하여 in vivo에서의 ID 추출물의 항암효과에 대해 심도 있는 연구가 이루어 져야 할 것으로 사료된다.