YAN-NAN LI^1,#, YUN-HONG XIU^2,#, YAN-JUN TANG³, JING-LONG CAO¹, WEN-SHUANG HOU¹, AN-QI WANG¹, TIAN-ZHU LI^4,*, CHENG-HAO JIN^1,3,5,*

BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.7, pp. 1055-1069, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2024.050515

Abstract Objectives: Sciadopitysin (SP) is a flavonoid in Ginkgo biloba that exhibits various pharmacological activities. This study aimed to investigate its antitumor effects and the underlying molecular mechanism of SP in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. Methods: Network pharmacology was used for target prediction analysis. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was used to test the cell viability. Flow cytometry was used to test the cell cycle distribution, apoptosis status, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. Transwell and wound-healing assay was used to test the migration effect of SP on HepG2 cells. Western Blot assay was used to… More > Graphic Abstract

CARLOS ALBERTO-SILVA^*, BRENDA RUFINO DA SILVA

BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.6, pp. 897-904, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2024.050443

Abstract Venom snake-derived peptides have multiple biochemical, pharmacological, and toxicological profiles, allowing for the discovery of new medicinal products and therapeutic applications. This review specifically examines the fundamental elements of neuroprotection offered by different oligopeptides derived from snake venom. It also includes a brief evaluation of short peptides that are being considered as potential therapeutic agents. Proline-rich peptides and tryptophyllin family peptides isolated from the crude venom of Viperidae family snakes, specifically Bothrops atrox, Bothrops jararaca, and Bothrops moojeni, have been shown to have pro-survival properties, the ability to reduce oxidative stress, and the ability to promote cell viability More >

Huan Shen^*1, Li Liu^†1, Yongjin Yang^*, Wenxing Xun^‡, Kewen Wei^‡, Guang Zeng^‡

Oncology Research, Vol.25, No.7, pp. 1141-1152, 2017, DOI:10.3727/096504017X14841698396784

Abstract Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a common cancer of the head and neck. Betulinic acid (BA) is a naturally occurring pentacyclic triterpenoid. The present study was designed to explore the effects of BA on OSCC KB cell proliferation in vitro and on implanted tumor growth in vivo and to examine the possible molecular mechanisms. The results showed that BA dose-dependently inhibited KB cell proliferation and decreased implanted tumor volume. In addition, BA significantly promoted mitochondrial apoptosis, as reflected by an increase in TUNEL+ cells and the activities of caspases 3 and 9, an increase… More >

Ayman I. Elkady^*†, Osama A. Abu-Zinadah^*, Rania Abd El Hamid Hussein^‡§

Oncology Research, Vol.25, No.6, pp. 897-912, 2017, DOI:10.3727/096504016X14816352324532

Abstract There is an urgent need to improve the clinical management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the most common causes of global cancer-related deaths. Zingibar officinale is a medicinal herb used throughout history for both culinary and medicinal purposes. It has antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, and free radical scavenging properties. Previously, we proved that the crude flavonoid extract of Z. officinale (CFEZO) inhibited growth and induced apoptosis in several cancer cell lines. However, the effect of the CFEZO on an HCC cell line has not yet been evaluated. In this study, we explored the anticancer activity of CFEZO against… More >

Zhihai Wang^*, Kui Liao^†, Wenqi Zuo^*, Xueliang Liu^*, Zhili Qiu^*, Zhitao Gong^*, Chuan Liu^*, Quan Zeng^*, Yi Qian^*, Liang Jiang^*, Youquan Bu^‡, Suling Hong^*, Guohua Hu^*

Oncology Research, Vol.25, No.1, pp. 123-136, 2017, DOI:10.3727/096504016X14732772150226

Abstract NFBD1, a signal amplifier of the p53 pathway, is vital for protecting cells from p53-mediated apoptosis and the early phase of DNA damage response under normal culture conditions. Here we investigated its expression in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), and we describe the biological functions of the NFBD1 gene. We found that NFBD1 mRNA and protein were more highly expressed in NPC tissues than in nontumorous tissues. To investigate the function of NFBD1, we created NFBD1-depleted NPC cell lines that exhibited decreased cellular proliferation and colony formation, an increase in their rate of apoptosis, and More >

Yuanyuan Wang^*1, Qin Luo^*1, Xianlu He^†1, He Wei^*, Ting Wang^*, Jichun Shao^‡, Xinni Jiang^*

Oncology Research, Vol.26, No.6, pp. 889-899, 2018, DOI:10.3727/096504017X15009419625178

Abstract Recent studies revealed that emodin extracted from Chinese herbs exhibits an anticancer effect on different cancer types, including colon cancer. However, the mechanism is not well understood. In our study, we confirmed that emodin treatment inhibited cell viability and induced apoptosis in colon cancer cells. Further experiments found that emodin was also able to induce autophagy, which is indispensible for apoptosis induced by emodin. More interestingly, emodin treatment also results in mitochondrial dysfunction and ROS accumulation in colon cancer cells. Finally, we stressed that ROS accumulation is essential for autophagy and apoptosis induced by emodin. More >

Sanae Haga^*, Akira Kanno^†, Takeaki Ozawa^‡, Naoki Morita^§, Mami Asano^*¶,¶ and Michitaka Ozaki^*¶

Oncology Research, Vol.26, No.3, pp. 503-513, 2018, DOI:10.3727/096504017X15005102445191

Abstract Liver injury is often observed in various pathological conditions including posthepatectomy state and cancer chemotherapy. It occurs mainly as a consequence of the combined necrotic and apoptotic types of cell death. In order to study liver/hepatocyte injury by the necrotic type of cell death, we studied signal-regulated necrosis (necroptosis) by developing a new optic probe for detecting receptor-interacting protein kinase 1 (RIP)/RIP3 binding, an essential process for necroptosis induction. In the mouse hepatocyte cell line, TIB-73 cells, TNF-a/cycloheximide (T/C) induced RIP1/3 binding only when caspase activity was suppressed by the caspase-specific inhibitor z-VAD-fmk (zVAD). T/C/zVAD-induced… More >

JINGLONG CAO^1,#, SHUMEI LI^2,#, TONG ZHANG^1,#, JIAN LIU¹, WENSHUANG HOU¹, ANQI WANG¹, CHANG WANG^3,4,*, CHENGHAO JIN^1,3,5,*

BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.2, pp. 313-325, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.043474

Abstract Background: Valtrate (Val) was extracted from the Valeriana jatamansi Jones plant, had good antitumor activity. However, its precise molecular mechanism in cancer cells was still unclear. This study investigated the effect of Val on gastric cancer (GC) cells and its potential molecular mechanism. Methods: Cell viability was examined by CCK-8 assay. Cell cycle, apoptosis, and Reactive oxygen species (ROS) level were analyzed by flow cytometry. The migration effect of Val on AGS cells was analyzed by transwell and wound-healing assay. The expression levels of proteins were analyzed by western blot. Results: The cell viability assay results demonstrated… More > Graphic Abstract

Ahmed Hassan Abdou^1,*, Omar Abdullah Alkhateeb², Hossam Eldin Hamed Mansour³, Hesham S. Ghazzawy⁴, Muayad Saud Albadrani⁵, Nadi Awad Al-harbi⁶, Wasimah B. Al-Shammari⁷, Khaled Abdelaal^8,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.12, pp. 3305-3321, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.044780

Abstract Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) play an important role in improving agricultural production under several abiotic stress factors. PGPB can be used to increase crop growth and development through hormonal balance and increase nutrient uptake. The positive effect of PGPB may be due to its pivotal role in morphophysiological and biochemical characteristics like leaf number, leaf area, and stem length. Furthermore, relative water content, chlorophyll content, carotenoids, antioxidant enzymes, and plant hormones were improved with PGPB treatment. Crop yield and yield components were also increased with PGPB treatment in numerous crops. The anatomical structure of plant… More >

ZIYU LIU^1,2, AKIKO OKANO^3,4, EMIKO SANADA^1,3,4, YUSHI FUTAMURA^3,4, TOSHIHIKO NOGAWA^3,5, KOSUKE ISHIKAWA⁶, KENTARO SEMBA^7,8, JIANG LI⁹, XIAOMENG LI¹⁰, HIROYUKI OSADA^3,4,11,*, NOBUMOTO WATANABE^1,2,4,*

Oncology Research, Vol.31, No.5, pp. 655-666, 2023, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.030248

Abstract

Myc belongs to a family of proto-oncogenes that encode transcription factors. The overexpression of c-Myc causes many types of cancers. Recently, we established a system for screening c-Myc inhibitors and identified antimycin A by screening the RIKEN NPDepo chemical library. The specific mechanism of promoting tumor cell metastasis by high c-Myc expression remains to be explained. In this study, we screened approximately 5,600 microbial extracts using this system and identified a broth prepared from Streptomyces sp. RK19-A0402 strongly inhibits c-Myc transcriptional activity. After purification of the hit broth, we identified compounds closely related to the aglycone

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