Chien-Chih Chiu,
Jeff Yi-Fu Chen,
Kuwi-Li Lin,
Chi-Jung Huang,
Jin-Ching Lee,
Bin-Hung Chen,
Wan-Yu Chen, Yi-Han Lo,
Yi-Lan Chen,
Chih-Hua Tseng,
Yeh-Long Chen,
Shinne-Ren Lin
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ABSTRACT: Naphtho[1,2-b] furan-4,5-dione (NFD) was investigated for its anti-proliferation effect on human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), Hep3B, HepG(2), and Huh-7 cells. The effect of NFD on inhibiting proliferation and apoptosis was correlated with up-regulation of pro-apoptotic protein and down-regulation of pro-survival proteins. Remarkably, we found that NFD inhibited the nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB, likely accounting for the down-regulation of pro-survival Bcl-2 family. Furthermore, suppression of p38 MAPK activity by a specific inhibitor significantly rescued the cell proliferation inhibited by NFD. These findings suggest that signaling imbalance between p38 MAPK and NF-kappaB by NFD results in the proliferative inhibition and apoptosis of HCC tumor cells.
Cancer letters 03/2010; 295(1):92-9. · 4.86 Impact Factor