• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.232-239
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• 2018

Human breast milk (HBM) provides neonates with indispensable nutrition. The present study evaluated the anti-cancer activity of diluted and pasteurized early HBM (< 6 weeks' lactation) on human breast cancer cell lines. The cell lines MCF7 and MDA-MB231 were exposed to 1 % HBM from the 1st, 3rd, and 6th weeks of lactation and exhibited reduced proliferation rates. As controls, breast cell lines (293T and MCF-10A), breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231), and $CD133^{hi}CXCR4^{hi}ALDH1^{hi}$ patient-derived human cancer stem-like cells (KU-CSLCs) were treated with prominent milk proteins ${\beta}$-casein, ${\kappa}$-casein, and lactoferrin at varying doses (10, 50, and $100{\mu}g$) for 24 or 48 hrs. The impact of these proteins on cell proliferation was investigated. Breast cancer cell lines treated with ${\kappa}$-casein and lactoferrin exhibited significantly reduced viability, in both a dose- and time-dependent manner. Interestingly, ${\kappa}$-casein selectively impacted only cancer (but not normal breast) cell lines, particularly the more malignant cell line. However, ${\beta}$-casein-exposed human breast cancer cell lines exhibited a significantly higher proliferation rate. Thus, ${\kappa}$-casein and lactoferrin appear to exert selective anti-cancer activities. Further studies are warranted to determine the mechanisms underlying ${\kappa}$-casein- and lactoferrin-mediated cancer cell-selective cytotoxic effects.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.8
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• pp.523-528
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• 2011

To identify novel genes that are regulated by promoter methylation, a combinational approach involving in silico mining followed by molecular assay was performed. From the expression microarray data registered in the European bioinformatics institute (EBI), genes showing downregulation in breast cancer cells were initially screened and then selected by e-Northern analysis using the Unigene database. A series of these in silico methods identified CAMK2B and ARFGEF1 as candidates, and the two genes were revealed to be hypermethylated in breast cancer cell lines and hypomethylated in normal breast cell lines. Additionally, cancer cell lines showed downregulated expression of these genes. Furthermore, treatment of the cancer cell lines with a demethylation agent, 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine, recovered expression of CAMK2B and ARFGEF1, implying that hypermethyaltion silenced gene activity in cancer cells. Taken together, promoter methylations of CAMK2B and ARFGEF1 are novel epigenetic markers identified in breast cancer cell lines and can be utilized for the application to clinical cancer tissues.

• Journal of Breast Disease
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.39-45
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• 2018

Purpose: Dieckol, a phlorotannin compound isolated from Ecklonia cava, has been reported to have antioxidant, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties. The purpose of this study was to investigate its anticancer effects on human breast cancer cell lines. Methods: In this study, the viability of two human breast cancer cell lines SK-BR-3 and MCF-7 was investigated after dieckol treatment using a WST-1 assay. Apoptosis and cell cycle distribution were assayed via Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate and propidium iodide staining followed by flow cytometric analysis. Immunoblotting analysis was also performed using Bax/Bcl-2 to determine whether the dieckol-induced apoptosis was mediated by the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. Results: In a dose dependent manner, dieckol reduced the number of viable cells and increased the number of apoptotic cells. The effect of dieckol on the cell cycle distribution was analyzed using flow cytometry. Dieckol treatment significantly increased the percentage of MCF-7 and SK-BR-3 in the G2/M phase. Immunoblot analysis revealed that 24 hours of dieckol exposure increased the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Conclusion: Dieckol induced cytotoxicity in MCF-7 and SK-BR-3 human breast cancer cells inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Therefore, it is suggested that dieckol may be a potential therapeutic agent for breast cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7553-7558
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• 2014

The Piwi subfamily comprises two argonaute (Ago) family proteins, which are defined by the presence of PAZ and Piwi domains, with well known roles in RNA silencing. Hiwi, a human Piwi subfamily member, has been shown to play essential roles in stem cell self-renewal and gametogenesis. Recently, accumulating reports have indicated that abnormal hiwi expression is associated with poorer prognosis of multiple types of human cancers, including examples in the breast. However, little is known about details of the oncogenic role of hiwi in breast cancers. In present study, we confirmed overexpression of hiwi in breast cancer specimens and breast cancer cell lines at both mRNA and protein levels. Thus both RT-qPCR and Western blot data revealed significantly higher hiwi in intratumor than peritumor specimens, overexpression being associated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis and histological grade. Hiwi overexpression was also identified in breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7, and gain-of-function and loss-of-function strategies were adopted to identify the role of hiwi in the MCF-7 cell growth. Results demonstrated that hiwi expression in MCF-7 cells was significantly up- or down-regulated by the two strategies. We next evaluated the influence of hiwi overexpression or knockdown on the growth of breast cancer cells. Both cell count and colony formation assays confirmed promoting roles of hiwi in MCF-7 cells, which could be inhibited by hiwi specific blockage by siRNAs. In summary, the present study confirmed overexpression of hiwi in breast cancer specimens and breast cancer cell lines, and provided e vidence of promotion by hiwi of cell growth. The results imply an oncogenic role of hiwi in breast cancers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.2179-2183
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• 2014

Background: In vitro, in vivo and clinical studies have demonstrated anti-cancer effects of deuterium depleted water (DDW). The nature of this agents action, cytotoxic or cytostatic, remains to be elucidated. We here aimed to address the point by examining effects on different cell lines. Materials and Methods: 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) -based cytotoxicity analysis was conducted for human breast, stomach, colon, prostate cancer and glioblastoma multiforme cell lines as well as human dermal fibroblasts. The cell lines were treated with decreasing deuterium concentrations of DDW alone, paclitaxel alone and both. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for statistical analysis. Results: Treatment with different deuterium concentrations of DDW alone did not impose any significant inhibitory effects on growth of cell lines. Paclitaxel significantly decreased the survival fractions of all cell lines. DDW augmented paclitaxel inhibitory effects on breast, prostate, stomach cancer and glioblastoma cell lines, with influence being more pronounced in breast and prostate cases. Conclusions: DDW per se does not appear to have inhibitory effects on the assessed tumor cell lines as well as normal fibroblasts. As an adjuvant, however, DDW augmented inhibitory effects of paclitaxel and thus it could be considered as an adjuvant to conventional anticancer agents in future trials.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6625-6629
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• 2013

Breast cancer accounts for one third of new cancer cases among women. The need for biomarkers for early detection is the stimulus to researchers to evaluate altered expression of genes in tumours. Cancer-testis (CT) genes are a group with limited expression in normal tissues except testis but up-regulation in a wide variety of cancers. We here evaluated expression of two CT genes named FBXO39 and TDRD4 in 32 invasive ductal carcinoma samples, 10 fibroadenomas and 6 normal breast tissue samples, in addition to two breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, by the means of quantitative real time RT-PCR. FBXO39 showed significant up-regulation in invasive ductal carcinoma samples in comparison with normal samples. It also was expressed in both cell lines and after RHOXF1 gene knock down it was down-regulated in MCF-7 but up-regulated in the MDA-MB-231 cell line. TDRD4 was not expressed in the MCF-7 cell line and any of the tissue samples except testis. However, it was expressed in MDA-MB-231 and was up-regulated after RHOXF1 gene knock down. Our results show that FBXO39 but not TDRD4 can be used for cancer detection and if proved to be immunogenic, might be a putative candidate for breast cancer immunotherapy.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.503-510
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• 2013

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women, both in the developed and developing countries. Anthocyanins are natural coloring of a multitude of foods, such as berries, grapes or cherries. Glycosides of the aglycons delphinidin represent the most abundant anthocyanins in fruits. Delphinidin has recently been reported to inhibit the growth of human tumor cell line. Also, delphinidin is a powerful antioxidant that reportedly exerts beneficial effects in patients with advanced cancer by reducing the level of reactive oxygen species and increasing glutathion peroxidase activity. This study investigates the effects of delphinidin on protein ErbB2, ErbB3 and Akt expressions associated with cell proliferation and Bcl-2, Bax protein associated with cell apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell line. MDA-MB-231 cells were cultured with various concentrations (0, 5, 10, and $20{\mu}mol/L$) of delphinidin. Delphinidin inhibited breast cancer cell growth in a dose dependent manner (p < 0.05). ErbB2 and ErbB3 expressions were markdly lower $5{\mu}mol/L$ delphinidin (p < 0.05). In addition, total Akt and phosphorylated Akt levels were decreased dose-dependently in cells treated with delphinidin (p < 0.05). Futher, Bcl-2 levels were dose-dependently decreased and Bax expression was significantly increased in cells treated with delphinidin (p < 0.05). In conclusion, I have shown that delphinidin inhibits cell growth, proliferation and induces apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell lines.

• BMB Reports
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• v.56 no.7
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• pp.410-415
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• 2023

Breast cancer has become the most common cancer among women worldwide. Among breast cancers, metastatic breast cancer is associated with the highest mortality rate. Twist1, one of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition-regulating transcription factors, is known to promote the intravasation of breast cancer cells into metastatic sites. Therefore, targeting Twist1 to develop anti-cancer drugs might be a valuable strategy. In this study, LY-290181 dose-dependently inhibited migration, invasion, and multicellular tumor spheroid invasion in breast cancer cell lines. These anti-cancer effects of LY-290181 were mediated through the down-regulation of Twist1 protein levels. LY-290181 inhibited extracellular signal-regulated kinase and c-Jun N-terminal kinase signaling pathways. Therefore, our findings suggest that LY-290181 may serve as a basis for future research and development of an anti-cancer agent targeting metastatic cancers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.4623-4628
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• 2015

Breast cancer still remains as the most frequent cancer with second mortality rate in women worldwide. There are no validated biomarkers for detection of the disease in early stages with effective power in diagnosis and therapeutic approaches. Cancer/testis antigens are recently promising tumor antigens and suitable candidates for targeted therapies and generating cancer vaccines. We conducted the present study to analyze transcript changes of two cancer/testis antigens, OIP5 and TAF7L, in breast tumors and cell lines in comparison with normal breast tissues by quantitative real time RT-PCR for the first time. Significant over-expression of OIP5 was observed in breast tumors and three out of six cell lines including MDA-MB-468, T47D and SKBR3. Not significant expression of TAF7L was evident in breast tumors but significant increase was noted in three out of six cell lines including MDA-MB-231, BT474 and T47D. OIP5 has ssignificant role in chromatin organization and cell cycle control during cell cycle exit and normal chromosome segregation during mitosis and TAF7L is a component of the transcription factor IID, which is involved in transcription initiation of most protein coding genes. TAF7Lis located at X chromosome and belongs to the CT-X gene family of cancer/testis antigens which contains about 50% of CT antigens, including those which have been used in cancer immunotherapy.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.17.1-17.13
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• 2021

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer in women all over the world and accounts for ~25% of newly observed cancers in women. Epigenetic modifications influence differential expression of genes through non-coding RNA and play a crucial role in cancer regulation. In the present study, epigenetic regulation of gene expression by in-silico analysis of histone modifications using chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-Seq) has been carried out. Histone modification data of H3K4me3 from one normal-like and four breast cancer cell lines were used to predict miRNA expression at the promoter level. Predicted miRNA promoters (based on ChIP-Seq) were used as a probe to identify gene targets. Five triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)-specific miRNAs (miR153-1, miR4767, miR4487, miR6720, and miR-LET7I) were identified and corresponding 13 gene targets were predicted. Eight miRNA promoter peaks were predicted to be differentially expressed in at least three breast cancer cell lines (miR4512, miR6791, miR330, miR3180-3, miR6080, miR5787, miR6733, and miR3613). A total of 44 gene targets were identified based on the 3'-untranslated regions of downregulated mRNA genes that contain putative binding targets to these eight miRNAs. These include 17 and 15 genes in luminal-A type and TNBC respectively, that have been reported to be associated with breast cancer regulation. Of the remaining 12 genes, seven (A4GALT, C2ORF74, HRCT1, ZC4H2, ZNF512, ZNF655, and ZNF608) show similar relative expression profiles in large patient samples and other breast cancer cell lines thereby giving insight into predicted role of H3K4me3 mediated gene regulation via the miRNA-mRNA axis.