Glycine- and proline-rich glycoprotein regulates the balance between cell proliferation and apoptosis for ACF formation in 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-treated A/J mice

Soy Saponins Meditate the Progression of Colon Cancer in Rats by Inhibiting the Activity of β -Glucuronidase and the Number of Aberrant Crypt Foci but Not Cyclooxygenase-2 Activity

Objective. The effect of extracted crude soybean saponins on preneoplastic lesions, aberrant crypt foci (ACF), and the related mechanism were investigated. Research Methods and Procedures. Rats were assigned into five groups according to different doses of extracted crude soybean saponins and received 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) injection in week 5. In week 15, all rats were sacrificed. The number of ACFs, the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein expression, the level of prostaglandins E2 (PGE2), and the activity of β-glucuronidase were examined. Results. Results revealed that the consumption of extracted crude soybean saponins decreased the number of ACFs and the activity of β-glucuronidase in rats, while the expression of COX-2 protein and PGE2 level were not affected. Conclusions. Soybean saponins were effective in inhibiting colon cancer by downregulating the activity of β-glucuronidase in colonic mucosa but not the COX-2 protein expression and PGE2 level.

Coenzyme Q10 attenuated DMH-induced precancerous lesions in SD rats

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is known to be a compound with mitochondrial bioenergetic functions and antioxidant activity. In this study, we evaluated the effect of CoQ10 on the formation of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) induced by 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH), DMH-induced leukocytic DNA damage and gene expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) by real-time PCR in colonic mucosa of male SD rats. The animals were divided into three groups and fed a casein-based high-fat and low fiber diet (100 g lard+20 g cellulose/kg diet) with or without CoQ10 (0.4 mg in soybean oil/kg BW/d, i.p.). One week after beginning the diets, the rats were subjected to 6 wk of treatment with DMH (30 mg/kg/wk, s.c.) and CoQ10 treatments continued over the entirety of the experimental period (59 d). Administration of CoQ10 resulted in reduction of ACF numbers, to 20% of the carcinogen control value. CoQ10 supplementation induced an antigenotoxic effect on DMH-induced DNA damage in the blood cells. Colonic mucosa of DMH-injected rats had significantly greater COX-2 and iNOS gene expression than those of control rats, while treatment with CoQ10 induced an inhibitory effect on over-expression of COX-2 and iNOS in colon tumors. Our results provide evidence that CoQ10 has a protective effect on the process of colon carcinogenesis, suppressing the development of preneoplastic lesions, possibly by modulating COX-2 and iNOS gene expression in colonic mucosa and DNA damage in leukocytes, suggesting that CoQ10 has chemotherapeutic activity.

Expression of TNF-alpha and IL-6 in HMC-1 cells treated with bisphenol A is attenuated by plant-originating glycoprotein (75 kDa) by blocking p38 MAPK

Bisphenol A (BPA) is known as an estrogen-mimic environmental hormone which has the ability to indirectly stimulate the production of allergic inflammation-related cytokines. Cudrania tricuspidata Bureau (CTB) has been used in Korean folk medicine for a long time. In order to determine the inhibitory effect of a glycoprotein (CTB glycoprotein, 75 kDa) isolated from CTB fruits on the activities of allergic inflammation-related cytokines (TNF-alpha and IL-6) caused by BPA, we evaluated the activities of protein kinase C (PKC), p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB, and inflammation-related cytokine (TNF-alpha and IL-6) in the BPA-induced HMC-1 cells using immunoblot analysis and RT-PCR. The results obtained from this study revealed that CTB glycoprotein (100 microg/ml) inhibits the translocation of PKC from cytosol to the membrane, the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, the activation of NF-kappaB, and the expression levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6. Taken together, the results in this study suggest that CTB glycoprotein inhibits the expression of allergic inflammation-related cytokines (TNF-alpha and IL-6) by blocking NF-kappaB and p38 kinase in BPA-induced HMC-1 cells.