The normally high concentration of zinc in normal prostate gland is significantly reduced in malignant prostate tissues, but its precise role in prostate tumorigenesis remains unclear. The present study investigates the growth and transcriptional responses of LNCaP prostate cancer cells to prolonged high Zn2+ treatment. Restoration of high intracellular Zn2+ to LNCaP cells significantly reduced the cell proliferation rate by 42.2+/-7.4% at the exponential growth phase and the efficiency of colony formation on soft agar by 87.2+/-2.5% at week 5 post-treatment. At least 161 LNCaP cell genes responded to the high intracellular Zn2+, including approximately 10.6% genes that negatively regulate cell growth and approximately 16.1% genes that promote cancer cell proliferation. Inhibition of cell growth was transient as normal proliferation rate and colony formation efficiency were restored later even in the continuous presence of high intracellular Zn2+. RT-qPCR showed constitutively higher expression levels of FBL, CD164 and STEAP1 in LNCaP cells. FBL and CD164 were responsive to the treatment with Zn2+ in PNT2 prostate normal cells and were further overexpressed in the prolonged Zn2+-treated LNCaP cells. These observations suggest that in general high Zn2+ has suppressive effects on prostate cancer cell growth but continuous exposure to an environment of high Zn2+ can lead to the overexpression of cancer promoting genes such as FBL and CD164. This could be the antagonistic mechanism used to overcome the initial cell growth inhibitory effects of high Zn2+. These findings support a potential detrimental role of Zn2+ in prostate cancer.
We have previously shown that mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) inhibit tumour cell proliferation, thus promising a novel therapy for treating cancers. In this study, MSC were generated from human bone marrow samples and characterised based on standard immunophenotyping. When MSC were co-cultured with BV173 and Jurkat tumour cells, the proliferation of tumour cells were profoundly inhibited in a dose dependent manner mainly via cell to cell contact interaction. Further cell cycle analysis reveals that MSC arrest tumour cell proliferation in G0/G1 phase of cell cycle thus preventing the entry of tumour cells into S phase of cell cycle.
Lately, several new stem cell sources and their effective isolation have been reported that claim to have potential for therapeutic applications. However, it is not yet clear which type of stem cell sources are most potent and best for targeted therapy. Lack of understanding of nature of these cells and their lineage-specific propensity might hinder their full potential. Therefore, understanding the gene expression profile that indicates their lineage-specific proclivity is fundamental to the development of successful cell-based therapies.
The cytotoxicity of cell-free culture filtrates of 31 isolates of Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139, 5 reference strains and 26 clinical isolates, was tested on Madin Darby Bovine Kidney (MDBK) cells and Vero cells. The 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-y]-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) test was used to detect the effect of the filtrates on the proliferation and viability of cultured cell populations. The filtrates were prepared from serial ten-fold dilutions of inoculated AKI and APW broth media with and without the addition of polymyxin B. The APW culture filtrates of both V. cholerae O1 and O139 with and without added polymyxin B showed greater toxicity to MDBK cells as compared to AKI filtrates. The cytotoxicity of AKI-grown V. cholerae O139 to MDBK cells was greater than that of V. cholerae O1 grown in the same medium. The cytotoxicity of APW filtrates on Vero cells was low and only noted when polymyxin was added to the medium.
Stem cells isolated from dental pulp possess the capacity for self-renewal and the potential for multi-lineage differentiation. However, dental pulp stem cells have different characteristics in terms of their culture conditions. The success of stem cells culture is governed by its micro-environmental niche. Therefore, we studied the effects of culture niche on long-term expansion of dental pulp stem cells in terms of cell morphology, growth kinetics, senescence pattern, cell surface marker expression differentiation capacity, and seeding plating density of dental pulp stem cells in four different, widely used media composition Among the various basal media tested, α-minimum essential media and knock out-minimum essential media supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum were found to be the most optimal media composition in preserving the phenotypic characteristics and differentiation potential for prolonged periods as compared with DMEM-F12 and DMEM-LG. Plating density has been shown to affect overall yield. As a conclusion, the adoption of an appropriate culture system significantly improved cell yield, thus enabling the attainment of sufficient yields for therapeutic applications economizing in terms of cost of production and minimizing seeding cell density for maximum yield.
The plant Typhonium flagelliforme (TF), commonly known as 'rodent tuber' in Malaysia, is often used as traditional remedy for cancer, including leukemia.
Typhonium flagelliforme (TF) is a tropical plant, traditionally used by the ethnic population of Malaysia for the cure of various cancers. This plant had shown to induce antiproliferative effect as well as apoptosis in cancer cells. However, there is no available information to address that TF affects murine leukemia cells in vitro and in vivo. Here, we investigated in vitro and in vivo effects of TF on murine leukemia WEHI-3 cells. It was found that the growth of leukemia cells in vitro was inhibited by the various extracts of TF. Among these fractions, the dichloromethane (DCM) tuber extracts of TF showed the lowest IC(50) (24.0 ± 5.2 μg/ml) and had demonstrated apoptogenic effect when observed under fluorescent microscope. We investigated the in vivo effects of DCM tuber extracts of TF on murine leukemia cells, and the results showed that the counts of immature granulocytes and monocytes were significantly decreased in peripheral blood of BALB/c leukemia mice after the oral administration of DCM tuber extracts of TF for 28 days with three doses (200, 400 and 800 mg/kg). These results were confirmed by observing the spleen histopathology and morphology of enlarged spleen and liver in leukemia mice when compared with the control. Furthermore, the cell death mechanism in the spleen tissue of treated mice was found via apoptosis.
Secondary metabolites from actinomycetes especially the genus Streptomyces may be one of the most important sources for novel anticancer agents. A purified fraction from a novel actinomycete strain, Streptomyces sp. H7372, was elucidated in breast cancer cells. We have isolated three purified fractions from a novel strain, Streptomyces sp. H7372. One of the fractions, designated as 31-2, exhibited the strongest growth-inhibitory effect and thereby was selected for further studies. 31-2 exerted a growth-inhibitory effect on a panel of 15 human cancer and 2 non-malignant cell lines. In MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, 31-2 induced a cytostatic (anti-proliferative) effect without causing cytotoxicity (cell death). Our data suggest that the cytostasis resulted from cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase in MCF-7 cells and at the S phase in MDA-MB-231 cells. Western blot analysis demonstrated a modulation of phosphorylation of the Rb and CDC2 proteins and of CDK4, cyclin D1 and cyclin D3 in the 31-2-treated breast cancer cell lines. The protein levels of CDK2, CDK6, and PCNA were not affected by 31-2 treatment. 31-2 also exhibited an anti-invasive effect in MDA-MB-231 cells. However, this effect is not attributed to the modulation of proteolytic activity in MDA-MB-231 cells as the enzymatic degradation of type IV collagen was not affected by 31-2. The 31-2 is a potent cytostatic and anti-invasive agent and modulates the cell cycle pathway. Together, these results will have important implications in searching for novel approaches to treat cancer.
The immunoregulatory properties of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have been demonstrated on a wide range of cells. Here, we describe the modulatory effects of mouse bone marrow-derived MSC on BV2 microglia proliferation rate, nitric oxide (NO) production and CD40 expression. Mouse bone marrow MSC were co-cultured with BV2 cells at various seeding density ratios and activated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We show that MSC exert an anti-proliferative effect on microglia and are potent producers of NO when stimulated by soluble factors released by LPS-activated BV2. MSC suppressed proliferation of both untreated and LPS-treated microglia in a dose-dependent manner, significantly reducing BV2 proliferation at seeding density ratios of 1:0.2 and 1:0.1 (pcells at different ratios revealed interesting dynamics in NO production. A high number of MSC significantly increases NO in co-cultures whilst a lower number reduces NO. The increased NO levels in co-cultures may be MSC-derived, as we also show that activated BV2 cells stimulate MSC to produce NO. Cell-cell interaction is not a requirement for this effect as soluble factors released by activated BV2 cells alone do stimulate MSC to produce high levels of NO. Although NO is implicated as a mediator for T cell proliferation, it does not appear to play a major role in the suppression of microglia proliferation. Additionally, MSC reduced the expression of the microglial co-stimulator molecule, CD40. Collectively, these regulatory effects of MSC on microglia offer insight into the potential moderating properties of MSC on inflammatory responses within the CNS.
Research on natural products has been widely used as a strategy to discover new drugs with potential for applications in complementary medicines because they have fewer side effects than conventional drugs. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the in vitro cytotoxic effects of crude aqueous Catharanthus roseus extract on Jurkat cells and normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The aqueous extract was standardised to vinblastine by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and was used to determine cytotoxicity by the MTS [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium] assay. DNA fragmentation assay was employed to determine if cell death was due to apoptosis. The results showed that the aqueous extract induced cell death of Jurkat cells at 24, 48 and 72 hours post-treatment in a time- and dose-dependent manner. However, cells treated at 48 and 72 hours produced higher cytotoxic effects with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 2.55 μg/ml and 2.38 μg/ml, respectively. In contrast, the extract induced normal PBMC proliferation, especially after 24 hours treatment with 1000 μg/ml. This result indicates that the C. roseus crude aqueous extract showed differential effects of inhibiting the proliferation of the Jurkat cell line and promoting the growth of PBMCs. These data suggest that the extract may be applicable for modulating the normal and transformed immune cells in leukaemia patients.
Several mechanisms have been postulated for the anticancer effects of tocotrienols. In this study, for the first time, the anticancer effect of tocotrienols is linked to increased expression of interleukin-24 (IL-24) mRNA, a cytokine reported to have antitumor effects in many cancer models. Tocotrienol isomers (α-T3, γ-T3, and δ-T3) and tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) inhibited the growth of the 4T1 murine mammary cancer cells (P cells by vitamin E decreased in the following order: δ-T3 > γ-T3 > TRF > α-T3 > α-T, which was similar to their antiproliferative effects. The IL-24 mRNA levels in tumor tissues of BALB/c mice supplemented with TRF increased 2-fold when compared with control mice. Increased levels of IL-24 have been associated with inhibition of tumor growth and angiogenesis. Treatment of 4T1 cells with TRF and δ-T3 significantly decreased IL-8 and vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA levels. Hence, we report that tocotrienols have potent antiangiogenic and antitumor effects that is associated with increased levels of IL-24 mRNA.
This study aims to elucidate the effects of chrysin on human ER-negative breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231. The study demonstrated that treatment of MDA-MB-231 cells with 20 microM chysin for 48 h significantly inhibited the growth of MDA-MB-231 cells and induced cytoplasmic lipid accumulation in the cells, but that the observed of cell death was not caused by apoptosis. The expression of PPARalpha mRNA in chrysin-treated MDA-MB-231 cells was significantly increased, which was likely associated to the proliferation of the cells post chrysin treatment.
Phyllanthus is a traditional medicinal plant that has been used in the treatment of many diseases including hepatitis and diabetes. The main aim of the present work was to investigate the potential cytotoxic effects of aqueous and methanolic extracts of four Phyllanthus species (P.amarus, P.niruri, P.urinaria and P.watsonii) against skin melanoma and prostate cancer cells.
The treatment of oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) and human osteosarcoma (HOS) includes surgery and/or radiotherapy which often lead to reduced quality of life. This study was aimed to study the antiproliferative activity of local honey (Tualang) on OSCC and HOS cell lines.
This study aimed to examine (1) the expression of P16 protein relative to sites of presentation, immunophenotypic subgroups and proliferative indices of tumour cells, and (2) the relationship between p16 gene alterations and P16 protein overexpression in 70 cases of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL).
Research on natural products has been widely used as a strategy to discover new drugs with potential for applications in complementary medicines because they have fewer side effects than conventional drugs. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the in vitro cytotoxic effects of crude aqueous Catharanthus roseus extract on Jurkat cells and normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The aqueous extract was
standardised to vinblastine by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and was used to determine cytotoxicity by the MTS [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium] assay. DNA fragmentation assay was employed to determine if cell death was due to apoptosis. The results showed that the aqueous extract induced cell death of Jurkat cells at 24, 48 and 72 hours posttreatment in a time- and dose-dependent manner. However, cells treated at 48 and 72 hours produced higher cytotoxic effects with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50)values of 2.55 µg/ml and 2.38 µg/ml, respectively. In contrast, the extract induced normal PBMC proliferation, especially after 24 hours treatment with 1000 µg/ml. This result indicates that the C. roseus crude aqueous extract showed differential effects of inhibiting the proliferation of the Jurkat cell line and promoting the growth of PBMCs. These data suggest that the extract may be applicable for modulating the normal and transformed immune cells in leukaemia patients.
At least 6 million deaths occurred worldwide are due to cancer and this figure is expected to rise to
15 millions by the year 2020. Colorectal cancer is among the most commonly occurring cancers
both globally and in Malaysia. Numerous studies have shown significant relationships between
various dietary components and the risks for colorectal cancer. Meanwhile, several theories have
been suggested as etiological explanations, one of which is the influence of dietary factors on the
cell proliferation rate. A higher cell proliferation rate is statistically associated with increased risk
of colorectal cancer. However, evidence of a significant relationship between diet and colorectal
adenomas, a potential precursor for colorectal cancer, remains insufficient. Colorectal adenomas or
polyps are vital in their relationship with colorectal cancers as almost 70% of all colorectal cancers
are developed from these polyps. Studying the modifiable risk factors related to polyps will provide
an opportunity for the prevention of colorectal cancer even before it develops. This paper reviews
the available evidence linking dietary factors with the risk for colorectal adenomas. As the numbers
of published studies are limited, of which most are concentrated in Western countries, there is a
need for epidemiological studies in Malaysia to strengthen the evidence of a relationship between
diet and colorectal adenomas.
The aim of this study is to prepare a model for the production of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) lentogenic F strain using cell culture in bioreactor for live attenuated vaccine preparation. In this study, firstly we investigated the growth of Vero cells in several culture media. The maximum cell number was yielded by culture of Vero cells in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) which was 1.93 x 10(6) cells/ml. Secondly Vero cells were grown in two-litre stirred tank bioreactor by using several commercial microcarriers. We achieved the maximum cell concentration about 7.95 x 10(5) cells/ml when using Cytodex 1. Later we produced Newcastle Disease virus in stirred tank bioreactor based on the design developed using Taguchi L4 method. Results reveal that higher multiplicity of infection (MOI) and size of cell inoculums can yield higher virus titer. Finally, virus samples were purified using high-speed centrifugation based on 3( * *)(3-1) Fractional Factorial Design. Statistical analysis showed that the maximum virus titer can be achieved at virus sample concentration of 58.45% (v/v), centrifugation speed of 13729 rpm, and centrifugation time of 4 hours. As a conclusion, high yield of virus titer could be achieved through optimization of cell culture in bioreactor and separation by high-speed centrifugation.
Topical application of honey to burn and wounds has been found to be effective in controlling infection and producing a clean granulating bed. It is suggested that the wound healing effect of honey may in part be related to the release of inflammatory cytokines from surrounding tissue cells, mainly monocytes and macrophages. It has been reported that honey hastens wound healing by accelerating wound contractions. Microscopic evaluation demonstrated that there was a significant acceleration of dermal repair in wound treated with honey. Macroscopic and microscopic observations under in vivo assessment suggested that the topical application of honey might have favourable influences on the various phases of burn and wound healing hence accelerating the healing process. The regulatory effects of honey are related to components other than the sugars. However, the mechanisms by which honey affects the release of anti inflammatory agents and growth factors from monocytic cells are as yet unclear. Whether honey affects other cell types, particularly endothelial cells and fibroblasts, involved in wound healing also needs to be clarified. The present article is a short review of recent patents on the healing effect of honey in wound and burn management.
A new cell line, Asian sea bass brain (ASBB), was derived from the brain tissue of Asian sea bass Lates calcarifer. This cell line was maintained in Leibovitz L-15 media supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). The ASBB cell line was subcultured more than 60 times over a period of 15 mo. The ASBB cell line consists predominantly of fibroblastic-like cells and was able to grow at temperatures between 20°C and 30°C with an optimum temperature of 25°C. The growth rate of these cells increased as the proportion of FBS increased from 2% to 20% at 25°C with optimum growth at the concentrations of 10% or 15% FBS. Polymerase chain reaction products were obtained from ASBB cells and tissues of sea bass with primer sets of microsatellite markers of sea bass. An isolate of piscine nodavirus from juveniles of marine fish species tested positive by IQ2000 kit for viral nervous necrosis detection and was examined for its infectivity to a fish cell line of ASBB. A marine fish betanodavirus was tested to determine the susceptibility of this new cell line in comparison with commercial highly permissive SSN-1 cells. The ASBB cell line was found to be susceptible to nodavirus (RGNNV genotype), and the infection was confirmed by comparison cytopathic effect (CPE) with commercial SSN-1 and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. A nodavirus was further elucidated by electron microscopy, and the virus tested was shown to induce CPE on ASBB cells with significant high titer. This suggests that the ASBB cell line has good potential for the isolation of fish viruses.