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Cysteine-rich angiogenic inducer 61 (CYR61) is an extracellular matrix-associated protein involved in survival, tumorigenesis, and drug resistance. Therefore, we examined the effects of flavones against CYR61-overexpressing human gastric adenocarcinoma AGS (AGS-cyr61) cells, which show remarkable resistance to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), adriamycin (ADR), tamoxifen (TAM), paclitaxel (PAC), and docetaxel (DOC). Among the tested flavones, quercetin had the lowest 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) and significantly reduced the viability of AGS-cyr61 cells compared with AGS cells. Quercetin: (1) reduced multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 and nuclear factor (NF)-kappa B p65 subunit levels; (2) reversed multidrug resistance (MDR); (3) inhibited colony formation and induced caspase-dependent apoptosis; and (4) suppressed migration and down-regulated epithelial–mesenchymal transition-related proteins in AGS-cyr61. Moreover, AGS-cyr61 cells treated with quercetin concentrations close to the IC50 and simultaneously treated with 5-FU or ADR in the sub-lethal range showed strong synergism between quercetin and these two drugs. These findings indicate that CYR61 is a potential regulator of drug resistance and that quercetin may be a novel agent for improving the efficacy of anticancer drugs in AGS-cyr61 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is well known to play a major role in the cell growth, survival, proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenesis of various cancer cells. Most of the citrus species offer large quantities of phytochemicals that have beneficial effects attributed to their chemical components. Our study was carried out to evaluate the anticancer effects of the pericarp of Iyokan (Citrus iyo Hort. ex Tanaka), locally known as yeagam in Korea, through modulation of the STAT3 signaling pathway in both tumor cells and a nude mice model. The effect of supercritical extracts of yeagam peel (SEYG) on STAT3 activation, associated protein kinases, STAT3-regulated gene products, cellular proliferation, and apoptosis was examined. The in vivo effect of SEYG on the growth of DU145 human prostate xenograft tumors in athymic nu/nu male mice was also investigated. We found SEYG exerted substantial inhibitory effect on STAT3 activation in human prostate cancer DU145 cells as compared to other tumor cells analyzed. SEYG inhibited proliferation and downregulated the expression of various STAT3-regulated gene products such as bcl-2, bcl-xL, survivin, IAP-1/2, cyclin D1, cyclin E, COX-2, VEGF, and MMP-9. This correlated with an increase in apoptosis as indicated by an increase in the expression of p53 and p21 proteins, the sub-G1 arrest, and caspase-3-induced PARP cleavage. When administered intraperitoneally, SEYG reduced the growth of DU145 human prostate xenograft tumors through downmodulation of STAT3 activation in athymic nu/nu male mice. Overall, these results suggest that SEYG extract has the potential source of STAT3 inhibitors that may have a potential in chemoprevention of human prostate cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnolia flower buds are a source of herbal medicines with various active compounds. In this study, differences in the distribution and abundance of major essential oils, phenolic acids, and primary metabolites between white flower buds of Magnolia heptapeta and violet flower buds of Magnolia denudata var. purpurascens were characterised. A multivariate analysis revealed clear separation between the white and violet flower buds with respect to primary and secondary metabolites closely related to metabolic systems. White flower buds contained large amounts of monoterpene hydrocarbons (MH), phenolic acids, aromatic amino acids, and monosaccharides, related to the production of isoprenes, as MH precursors, and the activity of MH synthase. However, concentrations of β-myrcene, a major MH compound, were higher in violet flower buds than in white flower buds, possibly due to higher threonine levels and low acidic conditions induced by comparatively low levels of some organic acids. Moreover, levels of stress-related metabolites, such as oxygenated monoterpenes, proline, and glutamic acid, were higher in violet flower buds than in white flower buds. Our results support the feasibility of metabolic profiling for the identification of phytochemical differences and improve our understanding of the correlated biological pathways for primary and secondary metabolites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]