Sulforaphane (SFN), a compound derived from cruciferous vegetables that has been shown to be safe and nontoxic, with minimal/no side effects, has been extensively studied due to its numerous bioactivities, such as anticancer and antioxidant activities. SFN exerts its anticancer effects by modulating key signaling pathways and genes involved in the induction of apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and inhibition of angiogenesis. SFN also upregulates a series of cytoprotective genes by activating nuclear factor erythroid-2- (NF-E2-) related factor 2 (Nrf2), a critical transcription factor activated in response to oxidative stress; Nrf2 activation is also involved in the cancer-preventive effects of SFN. Accumulating evidence supports that epigenetic modification is an important factor in carcinogenesis and cancer progression, as epigenetic alterations often contribute to the inhibition of tumor-suppressor genes and the activation of oncogenes, which enables cells to acquire cancer-promoting properties. Studies on the mechanisms underlying the anticancer effects of SFN have shown that SFN can reverse such epigenetic alterations in cancers by targeting DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), histone deacetyltransferases (HDACs), and noncoding RNAs. Therefore, in this review, we will discuss the anticancer activities of SFN and its mechanisms, with a particular emphasis on epigenetic modifications, including epigenetic reactivation of Nrf2.
The HSulf-1 gene is an important factor that modulates the sulfation status of heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) in the extracellular matrix, resulting in disturbance of HSPG-related signal transduction pathways. Recently, HSulf-1 has been reported to be down-regulated in several human cancers. In this study, we first cloned and characterized the 5 0 promoter region of the HSulf-1 gene (around 400 bp) that contained high basal promoter activity. We also found that this functional promoter region was hypermethylated in a number of human cancer cell lines. Furthermore, we found that hypermethylation in this promoter region correlated with the down-regulation of the HSulf-1 expression in human breast and gastric cancer cell lines and tissue samples. These results suggest that the promoter hypermethylation may be one of the mechanisms of the HSulf-1 gene silencing in human breast and gastric cancers. Finally, we demonstrated that the HSulf-1 promoter was more frequently (p < 0.05) methylated in cell-free DNA extracted from serum samples of human breast and gastric cancer patients than that of healthy people (76.2%, 55.0% and 19.0%, respectively), indicating that detection of the HSulf-1 promoter methylation in serum samples may have clinical implications in early detection and diagnosis of human breast and gastric cancers.
Polymer-stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals (PSCLCs) with a double-handed circularly polarized reflection band are fabricated by a wash-out/refill method. By removing the low molar weight LCs from the original PSCLC film, desirable liquid crystals (LCs) can be infiltrated into a prefabricated polymer network. The results showed that the memory of the polymer network controls the resulting material properties. The concentration of the prefabricated polymer network also plays a relevant role in the formation of a singlelayer cholesteric LC (Ch-LC) structure that has a clear-cut double-handed circularly polarized reflection band. A light-scattering phenomenon occurring in the system alters the reflection properties of Ch-LCs, which is due to the weak anchoring effect of the network when PSCLC film contains a low network concentration. Both kinds of circularly polarized reflection become more obvious with increase in the network concentration, followed by the strong anchoring effect of the network. The technique developed in this study has great applications in industries that require solid optical functional films and coatings.
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