title: Neutral lipid isolated from endosperm of Job's tears inhibits the growth of pancreatic cancer cells via apoptosis, G2/M arrest, and regulation of gene expression.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The neutral lipid isolated from the endosperm of Job's tears (NLEJ) has been known to possess an anticancer activity with relatively low toxicity. The present study was designed to examine its antiproliferative effects in the PaTu-8988 and SW1990 human pancreatic cancer cells and to investigate its potential mechanism(s).
  
  
  METHODS
  Pancreatic cancer cells were treated with NLEJ to evaluate cell viability, cell cycle progression, nuclear morphology, DNA fragmentation and annexin V binding analysis. Regulation of gene expression was determined by using cDNA microarrays and western immunoblotting.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The NLEJ induced a dose- and time-dependent inhibition of proliferation in both PaTu-8988 and SW1990 cell lines. Further studies were carried out with only the PaTu-8988 cells. Flow cytometry analysis showed that NLEJ blocked cell cycle progression at the G(2)/M phase. There was also an increase in annexin V binding and DNA fragmentation, indicative of apoptosis. The cDNA microarray analysis with cell cycle- and apoptosis-targeted arrays showed that the expression signals of 24 genes were found to be significantly altered at 24 h of NLEJ treatment. These genes are involved in cell cycle control (e.g. p21, p27, CDK2, and cyclins), apoptosis regulation (e.g. bcl-2 and bax), and signal transduction (e.g. ATM, RAD50, and p53). Some of these results were confirmed by western blot analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data show that NLEJ inhibits pancreatic cancer cell growth through induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest as well as regulation of gene expression in vitro. Therefore, NLEJ might be a chemotherapeutic agent against pancreatic cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Second Medical University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Yaozong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Weirong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Xuejun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D015153:Blotting, Western; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D031742:Coix; D053938:DNA Fragmentation / Q000235:genetics; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D016195:G2 Phase / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008517:Phytotherapy; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D028321:Plant Preparations