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Cantharidin (CTD) induces cytotoxic effects in different types of human cancer cell; however, to date, there have been no studies on the effects of CTD on gene expression in human lung cancer cells and the potential associated signaling pathways. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate how CTD affects the expression of key genes and functional pathways of human H460 lung cancer cells using complementary DNA microarray analysis. Human H460 lung cancer cells were cultured for 24 h in the presence or absence of 10 JAM CTD; gene expression was then examined using microarray analysis. The results indicated that 8 genes were upregulated > 4-fold, 29 genes were upregulated >3-4-fold and 156 genes were upregulated >2-3-fold. In addition, 1 gene was downregulated >4 fold, 14 genes were downregulated >3-4-fold and 150 genes were downregulated >2-3 fold in H460 cells following exposure to CTD. It was found that CTD affected DNA damage genes, including DNIT3 and GADD45A, which were upregulated 2.26- and 2.60-fold, respectively, as well as DdiT4, which was downregulated 3.14-fold. In addition, the expression of genes associated with the cell cycle progression were altered, including CCND2, CDKL3 and RASA4, which were upregulated 2.72-, 2.19- and 2.72-fold, respectively; however, CDC42EP3 was downregulated 2.16-fold. Furthermore, apoptosis-associated genes were differentially expressed, including CARD6, which was upregulated 3.54-fold. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that CTD affected the expression of genes associated with DNA damage, cell cycle progression and apoptotic cell death in human lung cancer H460 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dietary polyphenols have been demonstrated to reduce risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, but the precise underlying mechanism of protection remains unclear. Quercetin, one of the flavonoids found in onion, grapes, green vegetables, etc., possesses a wide range of biological effects including potent antiproliferative effects against various malignant cells. However, the exact effect of leukemia cells on murine in vivo is undefined. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of quercetin on affecting murine leukemia WEHI-3 cells in vivo. The cytotoxicity analysis demonstrated that quercetin inhibited the growth of WEHI-3 cells in dose- and time- dependent manners. After animals were injected with i.p by WEHI-3 cells that were oral treated with quercetin, the animals were sacrificed to measure the body weight and the results demonstrated that quercetin decreased both the size and weight of liver and spleen. Based on the ELISA analysis, it was demonstrated that quercetin decreased the percentage of Mac-3 marker and it also inhibited the differentiation of precursor of macrophage and T cells. Based on the pathological examination after animals were injected with i.p. through WEHI-3 with or without orally treated quercetin, it was demonstrated that quercetin did affect spleen and liver tissues. Therefore, the function of quercetin was observed in the liver and spleen of mice previously injected with WEHI-3 cells. The results from flow cytometric analysis also demonstrated that quercetin promoted the killing target cells of natural killer cells from mouse. Apparently, our results demonstrated that quercetin affects WEHI-3 cells in vitro and in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]