Endometrial cancer is the most common cancer in women, typically with onset after menopause. Isoliquiritigenin (ISL), a licorice flavonoid, was previously shown to have anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and tumor suppression effects. In this study, we investigated the anti-tumor effect of ISL on human endometrial cancer both in vitro and in vivo. We used telomerase-immortalized human endometrial stromal cells (T-HESCs) and human endometrial cancer cell lines (Ishikawa, HEC-1A, and RL95-2 cells) as targets. The effects of ISL on cell proliferation, cell cycle regulation, and apoptosis or autophagy-related protein expression were examined. In addition, we conducted in vivo experiments to confirm the inhibitory effects of ISL on cancer cells. ISL significantly inhibited the viability of cancer cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner but with little toxicity on normal cells. In addition, flow cytometry analysis indicated that ISL induced sub-G1 or G2/M phase arrest. ISL treatment activated the extracellular signal regulated kinase signaling pathway to enhance the protein expression of caspase-7/LC3BII associated with apoptosis/autophagy. Furthermore, ISL suppressed xenograft tumor growth in vivo. Taken together, these findings suggest that ISL may induce apoptosis, autophagy, and cell growth inhibition, indicating its potential as a therapeutic agent for human endometrial cancer.

Cordycepin (3′-deoxyadenosine) is a compound for antitumor, which has been found to exert antiangiogenic, antimetastatic, and antiproliferative effects, as well as inducing apoptosis. However, the association between cancer metastasis and mitochondrial activity in cordycepin-treated ovarian carcinoma cells remains unclear. The 50 and 100 μM of cordycepin inhibits mitochondrial fusion and induces mitochondrial fission, respectively. These suggested that cordycepin showed the down-regulation of mitochondrial function and limitation of energy production. Because of activation of mitochondria and generation of energy are needed in cancer cell migration/invasion. After 24 h treatment, cordycepin suppresses epithelial–mesenchymal transition and migration in ovarian carcinoma cells through inhibiting estrogen-related receptor (ERR)-α. The ERRα is a co-transcription factor for gene expressions associated with mitochondrial fusion. Our results indicate that cordycepin suppresses metastasis and migration of ovarian carcinoma cells via inhibiting mitochondrial activity in non-toxic concentrations, and cordycepin has potential benefits in ovarian cancer therapy.

In this paper, we propose a microfluidic device capable of generating a retarding flow field for the sorting and separation of human motile sperm in a high-throughput manner. The proposed sorting/separation process begins with a rapid flow field in a straight-flow zone to carry sperm into a sorting zone to maintain the sperm's mobility. The sorting zone consists of a diffuser-type sperm sorter to differentiate sperm with different motilities based on the flowing upstream nature of human sperm in a retarding flow field. The dead sperm will then be separated from the live ones by passing through a dumbbell flow field to the outlet for disposal. The proposed flowing upstream sperm sorter (FUSS) is designed to imitate the selection mechanism found in the female body when sperm swim into the uterus. The experimental results demonstrate the utility of this device with regard to throughput (approximately 200 000 sperm per minute and a maximum of 200 million cells per mL), efficiency (90% of selected sperm are mobile), and the ability to select sperm with high motility (∼20% of sperm with a velocity exceeding 120 μm s). The proposed device is suitable for intrauterine insemination as well as in vitro fertilization thanks to the highly efficient sorting process not interfering with the natural function and energy resource of human sperm.