Majed Al Fayi^*†, Ahmad Alamri^*, Prasanna Rajagopalan^*†

Oncology Research, Vol.28, No.2, pp. 177-189, 2020, DOI:10.3727/096504019X15746768080428

Abstract Drug discovery research to fight lung cancer is incessantly challenged by drug resistance. In this study, we used drug-resistant lung cancer stem like cells (A549-CS) to compare the efficacy of standard drugs like cisplatin (DDP) and gemcitabine (GEM) with a novel arylidene derivative IOX-101. A549-CS was derived from regular A549 cells by growing in special media. Resistance proteins were detected using Western blotting. Cell proliferations were assessed by MTT assay. Cytokine release was enumerated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The effect of drugs on apoptosis and cell cycle was studied with flow cytometry protocols. Apoptosis-related proteins,… More >

Jia Liu^*, Ying Zhang^†, Shulan Sun^‡, Guirong Zhang^‡, Ke Jiang,§ Peixin Sun^*, Ye Zhang^*, Bing Yao^*, Rui Sui^*, Yi Chen^*, Xu Guo^*, Tao Tang^*, Ji Shi^*, Haiyang Liang^*, Haozhe Piao^*

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.4, pp. 475-486, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504018X15270916676926

Abstract Glioma is the most common malignant tumor of the central nervous system, and it is characterized by high relapse and fatality rates and poor prognosis. Bufalin is one of the main ingredients of Chan-su, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) extracted from toad venom. Previous studies revealed that bufalin exerted inhibitory effects on a variety of tumor cells. To demonstrate the inhibitory effect of bufalin on glioma cells and glioma stem-like cells (GSCs) and discuss the underlying mechanism, the proliferation of glioma cells was detected by MTT and colony formation assays following treatment with bufalin. In… More >

Feng Zhang^*, Hong Sun^†, Sai Zhang^†, Xin Yang^‡, Guogang Zhang^*, Tao Su^†

Oncology Research, Vol.25, No.5, pp. 709-719, 2017, DOI:10.3727/096504016X14772331883976

Abstract PER3, a circadian clock gene, plays an important role in colorectal cancer, but its action and underlying mechanism in colorectal cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) remain unclear. In this study, the colorectal CSCs were enriched in colorectal HCT-116 sphere-forming cells, expressing lower levels of stem cell markers CD133, CD44, LGR5, and SOX2 compared with HCT-116 cells. A drug-resistant strain from HCT-116 was established. Western blot and qRT-PCR analysis showed that PER3 was downregulated in colorectal CSCs and drug-resistant HCT-116. Overexpression of PER3 could strengthen 5-FU-induced inhibitory effects on colorectal CSCs, but knockdown of PER3 decreased its… More >

Su-Hoon Lee, Suh-Kyung Hyun, Hak-Bong Kim, Chi-Dug Kang, Sun-Hee Kim

Oncology Research, Vol.24, No.6, pp. 495-509, 2016, DOI:10.3727/096504016X14685034103950

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies, with a poor prognosis and high recurrence rate. In the present study, we identified CD133, one of the markers of cancer stem cells, as a novel molecular target of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL). In four human HCC cell lines established from primary HCC tumors, we found that CD133-high human liver cancer stem-like cells (CD133^hi) derived from the SNU-475 cell line were highly susceptible to TRAIL compared to other HCC cell lines with a small population of CD133. CD133^hi SNU-475 cells showed upregulation of TRAIL… More >