Wensong LIU¹, Yunjie LU¹, Dong ZHANG¹, Longqing SHI¹, Guangchen ZU¹, Haijiao YAN^2,*, Donglin SUN^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.1, pp. 73-80, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.08613

Abstract Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive malignancies with poor prognosis and high mortality. Recent studies showed that microRNAs are dysregulated and involved in the initiation and progression of pancreatic cancer. In this study, we found that miR-708 was significantly downregulated in pancreatic cancer tissues and cell lines. Lentivirus-mediated overexpression of miR-708 could significantly inhibit the proliferation and invasion, while enhanced chemosensitivity to gemcitabine in both Panc-1 and SW1990 cells. Luciferase reporter assay showed that miR-708 bound the 3’-untranslated region of survivin and suppressed the expression of survivin in pancreatic cancer cells. In pancreatic cancer tissues, survivin protein was… More >

Binbin QIAN¹, Xiaoduo LIU², Xiaolin GU¹, Lu YANG³, Dake CHEN^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.1, pp. 19-26, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.07859

Abstract Prolylcarboxypeptidase (PRCP) belongs to the S28 family of proteases, which is also a dipeptidyl peptidase. In this study, we demonstrate the expression pattern of PRCP in Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We found that the repression of PRCP expression by small interfering RNA successfully inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Further, we explored the involvement of PRCP in the regulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The epithelial marker E-cadherin was significantly increased, meanwhile mesenchymal markers MUC1, vimentin, and SNAIL were markedly decreased in PRCP knockdown cells. Moreover, the downregulation of PRCP in the NSCLC cells induced the expression of apoptosis-related proteins… More >

Tiangen WU¹, Tianhao BAO^2,3, Daoming LIANG^1,*, Lin WANG^4,*

BIOCELL, Vol.43, No.4, pp. 293-298, 2019, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2019.07841

Abstract Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are crucial to tumor metastasis, and they usually undergo epithelial– mesenchymal transition (EMT) in order to disseminate from the primary tumor. However, very little is currently known about the relationship between EMT and malignant phenotypes of CTCs in the context of gastric cancer. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the contribution of EMT to malignant phenotypes of CTCs derived from gastric cancer cells. We xenografted MKN28 gastric cancer cells pretreated with transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGFβ-1) into nude mice by intravenous injection. Next, we isolated CTCs from the blood of nude mice by gradient centrifugation and… More >

Xiuchun ZHANG

BIOCELL, Vol.43, No.4, pp. 313-319, 2019, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2019.07973

Abstract To investigate the effects of polydatin on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of ovarian cancer, the change of proliferative ability, migration ability, and invasive ability of human ovarian cancer cell OVCAR-3, A2780, and HO-8910 was detected by using polydatin and up-regulating PI3K. The anticancer activity and mechanism of polydatin in ovarian cancer were analyzed. Polydatin could effectively inhibit the proliferation, migration, and invasion of OVCAR-3, A2780, and HO-8910, and inhibit the expression of PI3K protein. After the expression level of PI3K protein was up-regulated, the inhibitory effect of polydatin on the proliferative ability, migration ability, and invasive ability of OVCAR-3,… More >

LI-NA XU^1#, BI-NAN LU^2#, MING-MING HU¹, YOU-WEI XU¹, XU HAN¹, YAN QI¹, JIN-YONG PENG^1,3*

BIOCELL, Vol.36, No.3, pp. 113-120, 2012, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2012.36.113

Abstract Berberine, a constituent of some traditional Chinese medicinal plants, has been reported to have cytotoxicity effects on different human cancer cell lines. There is no available information about the effects and mechanism of action of berberine on human colon cancer cell line HCT-8. In this paper, the cytotoxicity of berberine on HCT-8 cancer cells was investigated by MTT assay, fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry analysis. Our data revealed that berberine could significantly inhibit the growth of HCT-8 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Morphology of apoptotic cells was studied with acridine orange/ ethidium bromide staining. The concentrations of lactate… More >

THANDI MQOCO¹, SUMARI MARAIS¹ AND ANNIE JOUBERT

BIOCELL, Vol.34, No.3, pp. 113-120, 2010, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2010.34.113

Abstract 2-Methoxyestradiol-bis-sulphamate is a bis-sulphamoylated derivative of the naturally occurring 17-beta-estradiol metabolite namely 2-methoxyestradiol. 2-Methoxyestradiol-bis-sulphamate is regarded as a potential anticancer drug with increased antiproliferative activity when compared to 2-methoxyestradiol. The aim of this pilot in vitro study was to determine the influence of 2-methoxyestradiol-bis-sulphamate on cell growth, morphology and possible induction of certain types of cell death in the SNO esophageal carcinoma cell line. A dose-dependent study (0.2-1.0μM) was conducted with an exposure time of 24 hours. Data revealed that 2-methoxyestradiol-bis-sulphamate reduced cell numbers statistically significantly to 74% after exposure to 0.4μM of the drug. Morphological studies including light microscopy… More >

CHRIS VORSTER, ANNIE JOUBERT

BIOCELL, Vol.34, No.2, pp. 71-80, 2010, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2010.34.071

Abstract In the search for new and improved anticancer therapies, researchers have identified several potentially useful compounds. One of these agents is 2-methoxyestradiol-bis-sulphamate (2ME-BM), a sulphamoylated derivative of 2-methoxyestradiol. The objective of this study was to evaluate 2ME-BM’s in vitro efficacy as antiproliferative agent in the MCF-7 breast adenocarcinoma cell line. Light- and fluorescent microscopy showed decreased cell density, increased apoptotic characteristics and significant ultrastructural aberrations indicative of autophagic cell death after 24 hours of exposure at a concentration of 0.4μM. In addition, mitotic indices revealed that 2ME-BM induces a G₂M block. The latter was confirmed by flow cytometric analyses where… More >

ANNIE JOUBERT^1*, HERMIA VAN ZYL¹, JOHANNES LAURENS², MONA-LIZA LOTTERING¹

BIOCELL, Vol.33, No.3, pp. 137-140, 2009, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2009.33.137

Abstract C2- and C4-position 17β-estradiol metabolites play an important role in breast carcinogenesis. 2-Hydroxyestradiol and 4-hydroxyestradiol are implicated in tumorigenesis via two pathways. These pathways entail increased cell proliferation and the formation of reactive oxygen species that trigger an increase in the likelihood of deoxyribonucleic acid mutations.
2-Methoxyestradiol, a 17β-estradiol metabolite, however, causes induction of apoptosis in transformed and tumor cells; thus exhibiting an antiproliferative effect on tumor growth. The 4-hydroxyestradiol:2- methoxyestradiol and 2-hydroxyestradiol:2-methoxyestradiolratios therefore ought to be taken into account as possible indicators of carcinogenesis. More >

ELEONIDAS MOURA LIMA^1,2, MARIANA FERREIRA LEAL³, MARÍLIA DE ARRUDA CARDOSO SMITH³, ROMMEL RODRÍGUEZ BURBANO⁴, PAULO PIMENTEL DE ASSUMPÇÃO⁵, MARIA JOSE BELLO⁶, JUAN ANTONIO REY⁶, FRANCINALDO FERREIRA DE LIMA⁷, CACILDA CASARTELLI²

BIOCELL, Vol.32, No.3, pp. 237-243, 2008, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2008.32.237

Abstract Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignancies. DNA methylation is implicated in DNA mismatch repair genes deficiency. In the present study, we evaluated the methylation status of MLH1, MSH2, MSH6 and PMS2 in 20 diffuse- and 26 intestinal-type gastric cancer samples and 20 normal gastric mucosal of gastric cancer patients from Northern Brazil. We found that none of the nonneoplastic samples showed methylation of any gene promoter and 50% of gastric cancer samples showed at least one methylated gene promoter. Methylation frequencies of MLH1, MSH2, MSH6 and PMS2 promoter were 21.74%, 17.39%, 0% and 28.26% respectively in gastric… More >

M. Sánchez Negrette, M.A. Montenegro, M.S. Catuogno, W.J. Lértora, M.C. Guanziroli

BIOCELL, Vol.31, No.3, pp. 391-396, 2007, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2007.31.391

Abstract Epidemiological studies in human beings and experimental studies in laboratory animals suggest that milk and dairy products can inhibit effects on the development of some kinds of tumors. Cow milk contains sphingomyelin, butyric acid, conjugated linoleic acid, calcium, vitamin A, carotene and vitamin D. All of these components are known to inhibit the process of carcinogenesis. Our objective was to determine the effect of cow milk and water buffalo milk on the development of colon neoplasias in an experimental model of carcinogenesis in rats induced with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH). Three-month-old Wistar male rats with an average body weight of 180 g… More >