FU-MING TSAI¹, PING-HSUN LU^2,3, LU-KAI WANG⁴, CHAN-YEN KUO¹, MAO-LIANG CHEN¹, CHUN-HUA WANG^5,6,*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.8, pp. 1793-1802, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.030093

Abstract Background: Cisplatin is a chemotherapeutic agent commonly used clinically for the treatment of various human cancers. Patients often reduce the use of cisplatin due to its side effects, which in turn affects its treatment. This study explored the mechanism of action of safflower extract as an adjuvant traditional Chinese medicine for chemotherapy. Methods: Primary human follicle dermal papilla cells (HFDPCs) were used as target cells for cisplatin-induced damage to hair cells. Western blotting was used to investigate the molecular targets of cisplatin and safflower extract in causing HFDPCs damage. Cell survival and cell cycle were analyzed by mitochondrial staining reagent… More >

MARIA-LUISA VEISAGA^1,2, MARIAM AHUMADA², STACY SORIANO², LEONARDO ACUNA³, WEI ZHANG³, IVY LEUNG², ROBERT BARNUM², MANUEL A. BARBIERI^1,2,3,4,5,*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.8, pp. 1835-1852, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.029076

Abstract Backgorund: Fruits and seed extracts of Annona montana have significant cytotoxic potential in several cancer cells. This study evaluates the effect of A. montana leaves hexane extract on several signaling cascades and gene expression in metastatic breast cancer cells upon insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) stimulation. Methods: MTT assay was performed to determine the proliferation of cancer cells. Propidium iodide staining and flow cytometry analysis of Annexin V binding was utilized to measure the progression of the cell cycle and the induction of apoptosis. Protein expression and phosphorylation were determined by western blotting analysis to examine the underlying cellular mechanism triggered… More >

TING ZHOU^1,#, PEIYING FU^1,#, DONG CHEN², RONGHUA LIU^1,*

Oncology Research, Vol.31, No.5, pp. 769-785, 2023, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.030166

Abstract Late-stage ovarian cancer (OC) has a poor prognosis and a high metastasis rate, but the underlying molecular mechanism is unclear. RNA binding proteins (RBPs) play important roles in posttranscriptional regulation in the contexts of neoplasia and tumor metastasis. In this study, we explored the molecular functions of a canonical RBP, Transformer 2β homolog (TRA2B), in cancer cells. TRA2B knockdown in HeLa cells and subsequent whole-transcriptome RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis revealed the TRA2B-regulated alternative splicing (AS) profile. We disrupted TRA2B expression in epithelial OC cells and performed a series of experiments to confirm the resulting effects on OC cell proliferation, apoptosis… More >

PRIYANKA SOLANKI¹, NISARG RANA¹, PRAKASH C. JHA², ANU MANHAS^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.4, pp. 707-729, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.026615

Abstract Cancer is considered one of the most lethal diseases responsible for causing deaths worldwide. Although there have been many breakthroughs in anticancer development, cancer remains the major cause of death globally. In this regard, targeting cancer-causing enzymes is one of the efficient therapeutic strategies. Biological functions like cell cycle, transcription, metabolism, apoptosis, and other depend primarily on cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). These enzymes help in the replication of DNA in the normal cell cycle process, and deregulation in the functioning of any CDK can cause abnormal cell growth, which leads to cancer. This review is focused on anticancer drug discovery against… More >

NADEZHDA PALKINA, EKATERINA SERGEEVA, TATIANA RUKSHA^*

Oncology Research, Vol.29, No.6, pp. 393-400, 2021, DOI:10.32604/or.2022.025816

Abstract Melanoma is one of the most aggressive types of malignant tumors, commonly affecting young individuals. The treatment of metastatic tumors remains obscure due to the resistance of tumor cells to drugs mediated by various mechanisms. The acquisition of a resistant phenotype is associated with both genetic and epigenetic alterations in cancer cells. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate whether microRNA (miR)-204-5p could promote alterations in the cell cycle and apoptosis of dacarbazine (DTIC)-treated melanoma cells. Quantitative real time PCR showed that transfection of DTIC-treated SK-MEL-2 melanoma cells with miR-204-5p mimics significantly upregulated miR-204-5p. However, flow cytometric analysis revealed that… More >

TIANZHU LI^1,#, YU ZHANG^2,#, TONG ZHANG^2,#, YANNAN LI², HUI XUE², JINGLONG CAO², WENSHUANG HOU², YINGHUA LUO^3,*, CHENGHAO JIN^2,4,*,

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.1, pp. 195-204, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.025593

Abstract Schisandrin B (Sch B) is a monomer with anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects, which are isolated from the plant Schisandra chinensis (Turcz) Baillon. We investigated the anti-gastric cancer (GC) effects of Sch B and its underlying molecular mechanisms. The Cell Counting Kit-8 assay was used to determine the effects of Sch B on the viability of GC and normal cell lines. Hoechst/propidium iodide staining and flow cytometry were used to assess the apoptosis induction of Sch B. Western blotting was used to evaluate the effects of Sch B on downstream apoptotic proteins. The DCFH-DA fluorescent probe was used to assess the… More >

Haiyan Zhang^*†, Yanxia Lu^‡, Surong Wang^‡, Xiugui Sheng^§, Shiqian Zhang^*

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.3, pp. 335-340, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504018X15252202178408

Abstract Aberrant expression of microRNA-152 (miR-152) is frequently observed in human cancers including ovarian cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and gastric cancer. However, its expression and functional role in cervical cancer (CC) are poorly understood. Also, the association between miR-152 and Krüppel-like factor 5 (KLF5) expression in CC remains unclear. In this study, analyzing the expression of miR-152 by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) revealed it was sharply reduced in CC tissues and cell lines. In addition, the negative correlation of miR-152 expression and KLF5 expression was observed. The dual-luciferase reporter assay validated that KLF5 was a target of miR-152. In vitro… More >

Li Zhu^*, Lijun Xue^†

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.6, pp. 629-634, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504018X15228018559434

Abstract Kaempferol is a flavonoid that has been extensively investigated owing to its antitumor effects. Nevertheless, little is known about its underlying mechanisms of action. We aimed to explore the role of kaempferol in breast cancer (BC), and thus we investigated how kaempferol suppresses the growth of BC cells. The cells were treated with kaempferol, and the effects on multiple cancer-associated pathways were evaluated. The MTS assay was used to study the cell growth inhibition induced by kaempferol. The cell cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry. Western blotting was used to analyze cellular apoptosis and DNA damage. We found that the… More >

Jiandong Guo, Huihua You, Dong Li

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.5, pp. 601-611, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504018X15399945637736

Abstract Baicalein, an active ingredient separated from Astragalus membranaceus, has shown its anticancer ability in various cancers. However, its effect on nasopharyngeal carcinoma has not been explored yet. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of baicalein on the growth, proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle of human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells, as well as transplanted nude mouse xenograft. The results showed that baicalein inhibited the growth and proliferation of CNE1 and CNE2 cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. It also caused a significant increase in the number of cells in the G₀/G₁ phase and a decrease in the G₂/M phase,… More >

Annemarie E. M. Post^*†, Johan Bussink^*, Fred C. G. J. Sweep^†, Paul N. Span^*

Oncology Research, Vol.28, No.1, pp. 33-40, 2020, DOI:10.3727/096504019X15555794826018

Abstract Tamoxifen-induced radioresistance, reported in vitro, might pose a problem for patients who receive neoadjuvant tamoxifen treatment and subsequently receive radiotherapy after surgery. Previous studies suggested that DNA damage repair or cell cycle genes are involved, and could therefore be targeted to preclude the occurrence of cross-resistance. We aimed to characterize the observed cross-resistance by investigating gene expression of DNA damage repair genes and cell cycle genes in estrogen receptor-positive MCF-7 breast cancer cells that were cultured to tamoxifen resistance. RNA sequencing was performed, and expression of genes characteristic for several DNA damage repair pathways was investigated, as well as expression… More >