title: Anticancer activities and mechanisms of Blumea balsamifera extract in hepatocellular carcinoma cells.
abstract: Blumea balsamifera (also known as sambong), a medicinal plant, is known to improve physiological disorders such as rheumatism and hypertension. However, its anticancer activity has not been well elucidated. In this study, we found that Blumea balsamifera MeOH extract (BME) induced growth inhibitory activity in rat and human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (McA-RH7777, HepG2, respectively) without cytotoxicity as in with rat hepatocytes used as a normal cell model. BME induced cell cycle arrest at G1 phase via decreases in expression of cyclin-E and phosphorylation of retinoblastoma (Rb) protein in both dose- and time-dependent manners. Furthermore, BME reduced the level of a proliferation related ligand (APRIL) which stimulates tumor cell growth. The anti-proliferative effect of BME was improved slightly but significantly by the treatment with recombinant human APRIL. These findings suggest that BME may have a possible therapeutic potential in hepatoma cancer patients and the depletion of cellular APRIL may be one of the important mechanisms on the growth inhibitory effect of BME.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Human Life Science, Osaka City University, 3-3-138, Sugimoto, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka 558-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Norikura
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kojima-Yuasa
authors.forename: Miki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Xuedan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Shenghui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Saeda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kametani
authors.forename: Sook-Nyung
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Rho
authors.forename: David Opare
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Matsui-Yuasa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019659:Asteraceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000473:pathology*; D019927:Cyclin E / Q000378:metabolism; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D016193:G1 Phase / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D016160:Retinoblastoma Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D053300:Tumor Necrosis Factor Ligand Superfamily Member 13 / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D019927:Cyclin E; D010936:Plant Extracts; D016160:Retinoblastoma Protein; D053300:Tumor Necrosis Factor Ligand Superfamily Member 13