title: Traditional Chinese medicine herbal mixture LQ arrests FUCCI-expressing HeLa cells in G₀/G₁ phase in 2D plastic, 2.5D Matrigel, and 3D Gelfoam culture visualized with FUCCI imaging.
abstract: We used the fluorescence ubiquitination-based cell cycle indicator (FUCCI) to monitor cell cycle arrest after treatment of FUCCI-expressing HeLa cells (FUCCI-HeLa) with a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) herbal mixture LQ, previously shown to have anti-tumor and anti-metastatic activity in mouse models. Paclitaxel was used as the positive control. In 2D monolayer culture, the untreated control had approximately 45% of the cells in S/G₂/M phase. In contrast, the LQ-treated cells (9 mg/ml) were mostly in the G₀/G₁ (>90%) after 72 hours. After treatment with paclitaxel (0.01 μm), for 72 hours, 95% of the cells were in S/G₂/M. In 2.5D Matrigel culture, the colonies in the untreated control group had 40% of the cells in S/G₂/M. LQ arrested the cells in G₀/G₁ after 72 hours. Paclitaxel arrested almost all the cells in S/G₂/M after 72 hours. In 3D Gelfoam culture, the untreated control culture had approximately 45% of cells in G₂/M. In contrast, the LQ-treated cells were mostly in G₀/G₁ phase (>80%) after 72 hours treatment. Paclitaxel resulted in 90% of the cells arrested in S/G₂/M after 72 hours. The present report suggests the non-toxic LQ has potential to maintain cancers in a quiescent state for long periods of time.
authors.affiliation: AntiCancer, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine Diagnostics, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Chengyu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bouvet
authors.affiliation: AntiCancer, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA.|Department of Surgery, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.|Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan.
authors.forename: Shuya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.affiliation: AntiCancer, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA.|Department of Surgery, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Hoffman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000494:pharmacology; D002453:Cell Cycle; D002465:Cell Movement; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D003094:Collagen / Q000378:metabolism*; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004357:Drug Synergism; D005453:Fluorescence; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D016193:G1 Phase / Q000187:drug effects*; D005781:Gelatin Sponge, Absorbable / Q000737:chemistry*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007797:Laminin / Q000378:metabolism*; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D051379:Mice; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000494:pharmacology; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010969:Plastics; D011509:Proteoglycans / Q000378:metabolism*; D016192:Resting Phase, Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects*; D054875:Ubiquitination
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D004338:Drug Combinations; D007797:Laminin; D010936:Plant Extracts; D010969:Plastics; D011509:Proteoglycans; C059485:matrigel; D003094:Collagen; D017239:Paclitaxel
keywords: FUCCI; LQ; TCM; herbal mixture; paclitaxel