Natural products are excellent resources for finding lead structures for the development of chemotherapeutic agents. Coumarins are a class of natural compounds found in a variety of plants. In this study, we evaluated the cytotoxic potential of coumarins isolated from Prangos ferulacea (L.) Lindl. in PC3, SKNMC, and H1299 (p53 null) human carcinoma cell lines. Osthole proved to be an outstandin...

The epidemiologic association between statin use and decreased risk of advanced prostate cancer suggests that statins may inhibit prostate cancer development and/or progression. Studies were performed to determine the effects of a model statin, atorvastatin (ATO), on the proliferation and differentiation of prostate cancer cells, and to identify possible mechanisms of ATO action. ATO inhibited ...

The PC3 gene is transiently expressed during neurogenesis in precursor cells of the telencephalic ventricular/subventricular zone, and is rapidly downregulated before cell migration and differentiation. It is thought to have a role in controlling cell proliferation, but its precise function is not known. Here we present evidence that PC3, when overexpressed in vitro by retroviral-mediated gene ...

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and curcumin are well known to naturally-occurring anticancer agents. The aim of this study was to verify the combined beneficial anticancer effects of curcumin and EGCG on PC3 prostate cancer cells, which are resistant to chemotherapy drugs and apoptosis inducers. EGCG showed weaker inhibitory effect on PC3 cell proliferation than two other prostate cancer cell ...

Ribonucleotide reductase (RR) is responsible for the de novo conversion of the ribonucleoside diphosphates to deoxyribonucleoside diphosphates, which are essential for DNA synthesis and repair. RR consists of two subunits, hRRM1 and hRRM2. p53R2 is a new RR family member. Because the majority of human tumors possess mutant p53, it is important to know the molecular mechanism by which mutant p53...

The disialoganglioside GD3 has been considered to be involved in tumor progression or suppression in various tumor cells. However, the significance of the biological functions of GD3 in breast cancer cells is still controversial. This prompted us to study the possible relationship(s) between GD3 expression and the metastatic potential of a breast cancer MDA-MB231 cells as an estrogen receptor n...

New drugs that inhibit the osteoprotegerin (OPG)/receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL)/RANK pathway have demonstrated efficacy for the treatment of bone metastasis. Toxicities induced by these drugs, however, including osteonecrosis of the jaw and hypocalcemia, may adversely affect therapy. The aim of this study was to identify additional therapeutic targets that can be combined with OPG/R...

Our recent studies showed that antisense oligodeoxynucleotide targeting antiapoptotic gene, clusterin, enhanced apoptosis induced by conventional therapeutic modalities using several prostate cancer models. In this study, to establish a more effective therapeutic strategy against prostate cancer, we investigated the effect of combined treatment with antisense clusterin oligodeoxynucleotide and ...

Previous investigations have demonstrated that a synthetic retinoid, N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) retinamide (4-HPR), inhibits the invasion of prostate adenocarcinoma in vitro. Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) is a prerequisite for tumor invasion. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of 4-HPR on uPA and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) in prostate cancer. Human prosta...

Prostate cancer (PCA) is the most common histological malignancy and the second leading cause of cancer deaths among North American men. There has been considerable interest in the chemopreventative properties of selenium. In this study, we assessed whether selenium inhibits cell growth and associated cell cycle regulatory proteins. Human PCA cells (LNCaP, PC3, PC3-AR2, and PC3-M) were incubate...