title: Active hexose-correlated compound down-regulates sex-determining region Y-box 2 of pancreatic cancer cells.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Active hexose-correlated compound (AHCC) is an extract of basidiomycete mushroom. It has been used as health food due to its efficacy of enhancing antitumor effects and reducing adverse effects of chemotherapy. Our previous research showed that AHCC down-regulated heat-shock protein (HSP)-27 and exhibited cytotoxic effects against gemcitabine-resistant pancreatic cancer cells. Sex-determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2) is reported to be up-regulated in other kinds of cancer cells and involved in carcinogenesis and malignancy. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of AHCC on protein expression of SOX2 in the gemcitabine-resistant pancreatic cancer cell line KLM1-R.
  
  
  METHODS
  AHCC was applied to KLM1-R cells and expression of SOX2 was analyzed by western blotting.
  
  
  RESULTS
  AHCC down-regulated SOX2 in KLM1-R cells. Nanog and Oct4, co-workers of SOX2 in maintaining pluripotency, did not exhibit any significant change in protein expression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We showed the potential of AHCC to be a candidate for combinatorial therapy in anticancer drug regimens. This result suggests that the target of AHCC in expressing therapeutic efficacy was not the pluripotent cells such as cancer stem cells (CSCs) but SOX2-specific.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Functional Proteomics, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Junya
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nawata
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Functional Proteomics, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan climates@yamaguchi-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kuramitsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Functional Proteomics, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yufeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Functional Proteomics, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kitagawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Functional Proteomics, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tokuda
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Functional Proteomics, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Byron
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Baron
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Functional Proteomics, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Akada
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Functional Proteomics, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigeyuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suenaga
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaino
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyusyu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Shin-Ichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maehara
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyusyu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maehara
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sakaida
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Functional Proteomics, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan Centre of Clinical Laboratories in Tokuyama Medical Association Hospital, Shunan-shi, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D011134:Polysaccharides; C527782:SOX2 protein, human; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors; C499366:Active Hexose Correlated Compound
keywords: AHCC; SOX2; gemcitabine; heat-shock protein-27; pancreatic cancer