Farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs) block the growth of tumor cells in vitro and in vivo with minimal toxicity toward normal cells. In general, inhibition of protein farnesylation results in G0/G1 cell cycle block, G2/M cell cycle arrest, or has no effect on cell cycle progression. One aspect of FTI biology that is poorly understood is the ability of these drugs to induce cancer cell growth a...

PURPOSE Lactobacillus casei (L. casei) is known to exert anti-proliferation effects on many types of cancer cells. However, the effect of L. casei on liver cancer has not been reported. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to determine the anti-cancer effect of L. casei extract on Huh7 cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS L. casei ATCC393 extract was prepared and purified. After the treatment of L....

BACKGROUND To identify a novel therapeutic agent for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), for which no promising therapeutic agent exists, we screened a panel of plants and found that Juniperus chinensis exhibited potential antiangiogenic and anti-HCC activities. We further investigated the antiangiogenic and anti-HCC effects of the active ingredient of J. chinensis extract, CBT-143-S-F6F7, both in ...

Steroid and xenobiotic receptor (SXR) or human pregnane X receptor (hPXR) dimerizes with retinoid X receptor (RXR) and regulates the transcription of genes encoding xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes such as CYP3A4. Rifampin, the classical activator of CYP3A4, binds to SXR directly. It is unclear whether various natural and synthetic retinoids can regulate the expression of CYP3A4. To evaluate the...

Proteins from human liver carcinoma Huh7 cells, representing transformed liver cells, and cultured primary human fetal hepatocytes (HFH) and human HH4 hepatocytes, representing nontransformed liver cells, were extracted and processed for proteome analysis. Proteins from stimulated cells (interferon-alpha treatment for the Huh7 and HFH cells and induction of hepatitis C virus [HCV] proteins for ...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, as a major cause of chronic hepatic diseases, is always accompanied with an abnormality of lipid metabolism. The aim of this study was to investigate the pathogenic role of free fatty acids (FFA) in human HCV infection. MATERIAL AND METHODS Peripheral blood lipid indexes among HCV patients with different viral loads (199 samples) and healthy donors ...

Retained bile acids, which are capable of inducing cell death, activate protein kinase Cδ (PKC-δ) in hepatocytes. In nonhepatic cells, both pro- and antiapoptotic effects of PKC-δ are described. The aim of this study was to determine the role of PKC-δ in glycochenodeoxycholate (GCDC)-induced apoptosis in rat hepatocytes and human HUH7-Na-taurocholate-cotransporting polypeptide (Ntcp) cells. Apo...

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary malignancy of the liver making up more than 80 percent of cases. It is known to be the sixth most prevalent cancer and the third most frequent cause of cancer related death worldwide. Epigenetic regulation constitutes an important mechanism by which dietary components can selectively activate or inactivate target gene expression. The miR...

Background and aim. Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) has been shown to downregulate HCV expression; however, the involved mechanisms are unknown. We used proteomic analysis to compare protein expression profiles between human hepatocarcinoma cells (Huh7) and Huh7-HCV cells harboring expression of non-structural HCV proteins, to elucidate the mechanism(s) involved in ASA-mediated downregulation of HCV...

In the present study, we evaluated the mechanisms of CDC42 in association with the microRNA-137 (miR-137)-induced inhibition of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The gene expression levels of miR-137 were evaluated in HCC cell lines. Direct association of miR-137 with its downstream target, cell division control protein 42 (CDC42), was evaluated by dual-luciferase assay, western blot analys...