Bilirubin Inhibits Tumor Cell Growth via Activation of ERK

HO-1/CO system in tumor growth, angiogenesis and metabolism — Targeting HO-1 as an anti-tumor therapy

“…Interestingly, BR/BV were also demonstrated to possess anti-tumor effects in some tumor types. In different cell lines, including colon, pancreatic tumors or melanoma, BR inhibited tumor cell proliferation and acted as a pro-apoptotic factor [14]. In addition, recent study by Zheng et al showed pleiotropic, anti-tumour effect through antiproliferative, proapoptotic, and antiangiogenic effects of BV in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).…”

Elevated serum bilirubin levels are associated with improved survival in patients with curatively resected non-small-cell lung cancer

“…Elevated bilirubin is also associated with longer survival in nonmetastatic breast cancer [10]. In vitro studies indicated that bilirubin induces apoptosis in colon cancer cells [11], exhibits an antiproliferative effect on human adenocarcinoma cells [12], and inhibits cell growth in various tumor cells [13]. However, the relationship between bilirubin levels and survival of lung cancer has not been studied previously.…”

Cytochrome P450 2A5 and bilirubin: Mechanisms of gene regulation and cytoprotection

“…(ERK 1/2) in the human colon cancer cell line (HRT-18), and the genes linked to the cell cycle are significantly repressed while genes linked to the inhibition of cellular kinases are induced in Ugt-null mice (Ollinger et al, 2007;Nguyen et al, 2008).…”

“…Furthermore, many reports show that the cytotoxic effects of BR extend down to nucleus. Previous studies have demonstrated that BR induces DNA damage and disrupt cell growth via DNA oxidation and activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) (Ollinger et al, 2007;Nguyen et al, 2008;Deganuto et al, 2010).…”