-
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Recent studies have shown that microRNA-146a (miR-146a) is associated with cancer metastasis. However, the mechanisms underlying this process remain poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to investigate the potential role of miR-146a in gastric cancer metastasis. A wound-healing assay and a Transwell assay were used to investigate the impact of miR-146a on the migratory and invasive abilities of MKN-45 cells in vitro. MKN-45 cells stably expressing miR-146a or the negative control were transplanted into nude mice through the lateral tail vein to explore the effect of miR-146a on tumor metastasis in vivo. A luciferase reporter assay and western blot analysis were used to identify the potential target genes. Our results show that the overexpression of miR-146a inhibits the invasion and metastasis of MKN-45 cells in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, the L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM) was identified as a novel target of miR‑146a in gastric cancer. Taken together, our results provide evidence that miR-146a suppresses gastric cancer cell invasion and metastasis in vitro and in vivo, which may be in part due to the downregulation of L1CAM. miR-146a may have the therapeutic potential to suppress gastric cancer metastasis.
Molecular Medicine Reports 06/2012; 6(3):501-6. · 0.42 Impact Factor
-
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Paclitaxel (Ptx) has demonstrated encouraging activity in the treatment of gastric cancer. Development of drug-containing biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles (np) becomes one of the solutions to relieve side effects of Ptx. However, Ptx-loaded nanoparticles prepared by the nanoprecipitation method are unstable in the aqueous phase. Here we report that tetrandrine (Tet) effectively increases the stability of Ptx-loaded nanoparticles when Tet is coencapsulated with Ptx into mPEG-PCL nanoparticles. The current study demonstrates the synergistic antitumor effect of Tet and Ptx against gastric cancer cells, which provides the basis of coadministration of Tet and Ptx by nanoparticles. It is reported that the cellular chemoresistance to Ptx correlates with intracellular antioxidant capacity and the depletion of cellular antioxidant capacity could enhance the cytotoxicity of Ptx. Tet effectively induces intracellular ROS production. Therefore, the present study provides a promising novel therapeutic strategy basing on "oxidation therapy" that it could amplify the antitumor effect of paclitaxel by employing Tet as a pro-oxidant. More intracellular Tet accumulation by endocytosis of Ptx/Tet-np than equivalent doses of free drug leads to more intracellular ROS induction, which could efficiently enhance the cytotoxicity of Ptx by sequential inhibition of ROS-dependent Akt pathway and activation of apoptotic pathways, all of which would mediate the superior cytotoxicity of Ptx/Tet-np over free drug. The present results suggest that the codelivery of Ptx and Tet by nanoparticles provides a novel therapeutic strategy basing on "oxidation therapy" against gastric cancer.
Molecular Pharmaceutics 12/2011; 9(2):222-9. · 4.78 Impact Factor
-
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Curcumin (Cum), the principal polyphenolic curcuminoid, obtained from the turmeric rhizome Curcuma longa, is recently reported to have potential antitumor effects in vitro and in vivo. Docetaxel (Doc) is considered as first-line chemotherapy for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Here we report for the first time that Cum could synergistically enhance the in vitro and in vivo antitumor efficacy of Doc against lung cancer. In the current study, combination index (CI) is calculated in both in vitro and in vivo studies to determine the interaction between Cum and Doc. In the in vitro cytotoxicity test, media-effect analysis clearly indicated a synergistic interaction between Cum and Doc in certain concentrations. Moreover, in vivo evaluation further demonstrated the superior anticancer efficacy of Cum + Doc compared with Doc alone by intravenous delivery in an established A549 transplanted xenograft model. Results showed that Cum synergistically increased the efficacy of Doc immediately after 4 days of the initial treatment. Additionally, simultaneous administration of Cum and Doc showed little toxicity to normal tissues including bone marrow and liver at the therapeutic doses. Therefore, in vitro and in vivo evaluations demonstrated the satisfying synergistic antitumor efficacy of Cum and Doc against lung cancer and the introduction of Cum in traditional chemotherapy is a most promising way to counter the spread of non-small cell lung cancer.
Acta Biochimica et Biophysica Sinica 11/2011; 44(2):147-53. · 1.38 Impact Factor
-
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Gambogic acid (GA), a potent anticancer agent, is limited in clinical administration due to its poor water solubility. The aim of this study was to explore a drug delivery system based on magnetic Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles (MNP-Fe(3)O(4)) conjugated with GA to increase water solubility of the drug and enhance its chemotherapeutic efficiency for pancreatic cancer.
GA was conjugated with the MNP-Fe(3)O(4) colloidal suspension by mechanical absorption polymerization to construct GA-loaded MNP-Fe(3)O(4), which acted as a drug delivery system.
Combination therapy with GA and MNP-Fe(3)O(4) induced remarkable improvement in anticancer activity, which was demonstrated by optical microscopic observations, MTT assay, and nuclear DAPI staining. Furthermore, the possible signaling pathway was explored by Western blot. In Capan-1 pancreatic cancer cells, our observations demonstrated that this strategy could enhance potential anticancer efficiency by inducing apoptosis. The mechanisms of the synergistic effect may be due to reducing protein expression of Bcl-2 and enhancing that of Bax, caspase 9, and caspase 3.
These findings demonstrate that a combination of GA and MNPs-Fe(3)O(4) represents a promising approach to the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
International Journal of Nanomedicine 01/2011; 6:1929-35. · 3.13 Impact Factor
-
Journal of Clinical Oncology 11/2008; 26(31):5129-30. · 18.37 Impact Factor
-
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: One of the major challenges in currently chemotherapeutic theme is lacking effective biomarkers for drug response and sensitivity. Our current study focus on two promising biomarkers, ERCC1 (excision repair cross-complementing group 1) and BRCA1 (breast cancer susceptibility gene 1). To investigate their potential role in serving as biomarkers for drug sensitivity in cancer patients with metastases, we statistically measure the mRNA expression level of ERCC1 and BRCA1 in tumor cells isolated from malignant effusions and correlate them with cisplatin and/or docetaxel chemosensitivity.
Real-time quantitative PCR is used to analysis related genes expression in forty-six malignant effusions prospectively collected from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), gastric and gynecology cancer patients. Viable tumor cells obtained from malignant effusions are tested for their sensitivity to cisplatin and docetaxel using ATP-TCA assay.
ERCC1 expression level is negatively correlated with the sensitivity to cisplatin in NSCLC patients (P = 0.001). In NSCLC and gastric group, BRCA1 expression level is negatively correlated with the sensitivity to cisplatin (NSCLC: P = 0.014; gastric: P = 0.002) while positively correlated with sensitivity to docetaxel (NSCLC: P = 0.008; gastric: P = 0.032). A significant interaction is found between ERCC1 and BRCA1 mRNA expressions on sensitivity to cisplatin (P = 0.010, n = 45).
Our results demonstrate that ERCC1 and BRCA1 mRNA expression levels are correlated with in vitro chemosensitivity to cisplatin and/or docetaxel in malignant effusions of NSCLC and gastric cancer patients. And combination of ERCC1 and BRCA1 may have a better role on predicting the sensitivity to cisplatin than the single one is considered.
BMC Cancer 02/2008; 8:97. · 3.01 Impact Factor
