RUOYU CHEN¹, YIMAN WU¹, FENG WANG¹, JUNTAO ZHOU¹, HUAZHANG ZHUANG¹, WEI LI^2,*

BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.7, pp. 1037-1046, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2024.051074 - 03 July 2024

Abstract Background: Oleanolic acid (OA), a pentacyclic triterpenoid exhibiting specific anti-cancer properties and highly effective antioxidant activity, was isolated from traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. Conversely, the OA that impacts colon cancer (CC) cells and its underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Methods: The cytotoxic effect of OA alone or OA-5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) combination on normal and CC cells was analyzed by methyl thiazolyl diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT). Then, the impact of OA on CC cell lines (LoVo and HT-29) proliferation and stemness were measured using colon formation and tumorsphere formation assays. Octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct4), Prominin-1 (CD133), Nanog,… More >

JIANBO ZHOU^1,2,3, FENG WAN^2,4, BIN XIAO⁵, XIN LI¹, CHENG PENG^2,*, FU PENG^1,3,*

Oncology Research, Vol.32, No.5, pp. 943-953, 2024, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.044775 - 23 April 2024

Abstract Breast and lung cancers are the leading causes of mortality and most frequently diagnosed cancers in women and men, respectively, worldwide. Although the antitumor activity of chalcones has been extensively studied, the molecular mechanisms of isoliquiritigenin analog 2', 4', 4-trihydroxychalcone (metochalcone; TEC) against carcinomas remain less well understood. In this study, we found that TEC inhibited cell proliferation of breast cancer BT549 cells and lung cancer A549 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. TEC induced cell cycle arrest in the S-phase, cell migration inhibition in vitro, and reduced tumor growth in vivo. Moreover, transcriptomic analysis revealed that TEC More > Graphic Abstract

LINGYAN LV^1,2,#, JING ZHAO^1,2,#, XUAN WANG^1,2, LIUYAN XU^1,2, YINGYI FAN², CHUNHUI WANG³, HONGQIAO FAN^4,5,*, XIAOHUA PEI^5,*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.9, pp. 1977-1994, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.030742 - 28 September 2023

Abstract Background: The development and prognosis of breast cancer are intricately linked to psychological stress. In addition, depression is the most common psychological comorbidity among breast cancer survivors, and reportedly, Fang-Xia-Dihuang decoction (FXDH) can effectively manage depression in such patients. However, its pharmacological and molecular mechanisms remain obscure. Methods: Public databases were used for obtaining active components and related targets. Main active components were further verified by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (UPLC-HRMS). Protein–protein interaction and enrichment analyses were taken to predict potential hub targets and related pathways. Molecule docking was used to understand the interactions… More >

YANG YANG, LIJUAN FU, CHUNMEI CHEN, MEIWEI HU

BIOCELL, Vol.46, No.5, pp. 1319-1328, 2022, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.015760 - 06 January 2022

Abstract Aberrant expression of miRNAs is significantly correlated with the occurrence of immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). The immune imbalance of M1/M2 macrophage contributes to the development of ITP. However, the role of miR-148b-3p in macrophage phenotype imbalance remains unknown in ITP. In this study, we aimed to explore whether miR-148b-3p inhibits M2 macrophage polarization in ITP and to investigate the underlying mechanism. Peripheral blood from 22 ITP patients were collected, and real-time PCR confirmed that miR-148b-3p was up-regulated and Western blot analyses detected the expression of SOCS3 was down-regulated. Subsequent dual-luciferase reporter gene assay indicated that More >

YUE WANG^1,#, YINPING DUAN^1,#, KUNLIN CHEN³, HUIXIA LI^1,2,*, YAN QUAN^4,*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.2, pp. 307-316, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.014305 - 19 February 2021

Abstract Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common cause of hepatic dysfunction. In the present study, human normal hepatocyte L02 cells were treated with 50% fetal bovine serum to induce the formation of hepatic steatosis in vitro, and then the cells were treated with docosahexaenoic acid to investigate its protective effect on Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Our results showed that 50% of fetal bovine serum significantly induced intracellular lipid accumulation and hepatocyte fatty degeneration within 48 h. The expression level of adipose formation-related genes was significantly up-regulated, such as PPARγ, C/EBPα and SREBP-1; meanwhile, the content… More >

De-Zhong Zhang^*, Bing-He Chen^*, Lan-Fang Zhang^†, Ming-Kun Cheng^‡, Xiang-Jie Fang^*, Xin-Jun Wu^*

Oncology Research, Vol.25, No.9, pp. 1453-1462, 2017, DOI:10.3727/096504017X14886494526344

Abstract Gastric cancer (GC) is the most common epithelial malignancy worldwide. Basic transcription factor 3 (BTF3) plays a crucial role in the regulation of various biological processes. We designed experiments to investigate the molecular mechanism underlying the role of BTF3 in GC cell proliferation and metastasis. We confirmed that BTF3 expression was decreased in GC tissues and several GC cell lines. Lentivirus-mediated downregulation of BTF3 reduced cell proliferation, induced S and G₂/M cell cycle arrest, and increased apoptosis. Knockdown of BTF3 significantly reduced the expression of Forkhead box M1 (FOXM1). Upregulation of FOXM1 significantly inhibited the decrease… More >

Wujun Li^*, Shaobo Zhang^†

Oncology Research, Vol.25, No.2, pp. 285-293, 2017, DOI:10.3727/096504016X14732523471442

Abstract The CKLF-like MARVEL transmembrane domain-containing 3 (CMTM3), a member of the CMTM family, was found in several human tumors and plays an important role in the development and progression of tumors. However, the role of CMTM3 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains largely unknown. Thus, in the present study, we explored its expression pattern in human HCC cell lines, as well as its functions in HCC cells. Our results demonstrated that the expression of CMTM3 is lowly expressed in HCC cell lines. In vitro, we found that overexpression of CMTM3 obviously inhibited the proliferation, invasion, and More >