Glehnia littoralis (GL) is widely used as an oriental medicine for cough, fever, stroke and other disease conditions. However, the anti‐cancer properties of GL have not been investigated. In order to elucidate the anti‐cancer properties and underlying cell death mechanism, MCF‐7, human breast cancer cells (5 X 104/well) were treated with Glehnia littoralis root extract at 0‐400 ug/ml. The hot water extract of GL root inhibited the proliferation of MCF‐7 cells in both dose‐dependent and time‐dependent manners. Analysis of the cell cycle after treatment of MCF‐7 cells with increasing concentrations of GL root extract for 24 hours showed a significant cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase. RT‐PCR and Western blot analysis both revealed that GL root extract significantly increased the expressions of P21, P27 and P38 while CDK2, CDK4 and Cyclin D1 expressions were down regulated. It is demonstrated that GL root extract arrested the proliferation of MCF‐7 cells at G1 phase through the inhibition of CDK2, CDK4 and Cyclin D1 via an increased induction of P21, P27 and P38. In summary, it is suggested that GL could have possible therapeutic potential against human breast cancer.
Marbling is the intramuscular deposition of adipose tissue and is said to be directly associated with beef quality. Nutritional manipulations are a common practice among beef cattle producers in order to achieve better quality meat. The objective of the current study was to investigate the effects of increasing extracellular calcium on the differentiation of intramuscular stromal vascular cells (IM SVCs) isolated from Hanwoo beef cattle. Primary cell isolates of SVCs were differentiated for 14 days while exposed to increasing concentrations (1.8, 3.6, 7.2, 10.8 mM) of calcium in the media. The correlation between adipogenesis and calcium concentrations was determined through SVC differentiation monitored by RT-PCR, Western blot analysis for PPARc, C/EBPa, calreticulin, FABP4 and GLUT4 expression. In addition, expression of both phospholipase C gamma (PLC-c) and protein kinase C (PKC) were investigated since both have possible links to intracellular calcium increase and the expression of several adipogenic genes including FABP4 and GLUT4. Results of the current study provide evidence that stromal vascular cells exposed to the lower concentrations of extracellular calcium have higher rates of adipogenesis possibly due to a decrease in the expression of calreticulin, a known inhibitor of PPARc expression, and PKC activation followed by PLC-c activation, leading to the expression of adipogenic genes. Data derived from this study shows that in vitro, decreasing calcium levels present in the microenvironment of fat precursor cells lead to a higher percentage of adipogenesis.
ARTICLE HISTORY
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.