It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Blessed thistle (Cnicus benedictus) is a plant in the family Asteraceae and also grows in our climate. For centuries, it has been used as a medicinal herb as an extract or tea, e.g. to aid the digestive system. Researchers at the Center for Pharmacology of University Hospital Cologne and at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Cologne have now found a completely novel use for Cnicin under the direction of Dr Philipp Gobrecht and Professor Dr Dietmar Fischer. Animal models as well as human cells have shown that Cnicin significantly accelerates axon (nerve fibres) growth. The study ‘Cnicin promotes functional nerve regeneration’ was published in Phytomedicine.
Rapid help for nerves
Regeneration pathways of injured nerves in humans and animals with long axons are accordingly long. This often makes the healing process lengthy and even frequently irreversible because the axons cannot reach their destination on time. An accelerated regeneration growth rate can, therefore, make a big difference here, ensuring that the fibres reach their original destination on time before irreparable functional deficits can occur. The researchers demonstrated axon regeneration in animal models and human cells taken from retinae donated by patients. Administering a daily dose of Cnicin to mice or rats helped improve paralysis and neuropathy much more quickly.
Compared to other compounds, Cnicin has one crucial advantage: it can be introduced into the bloodstream orally (by mouth). It does not have to be given by injection. “The correct dose is very important here, as Cnicin only works within a specific therapeutic window. Doses that are too low or too high are ineffective. This is why further clinical studies on humans are crucial,” said Fischer. The University of Cologne researchers are currently planning relevant studies. The Center for Pharmacology is researching and developing drugs to repair the damaged nervous system.
The current study received funding of around 1,200,000 euros from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the framework of the project PARREGERON.
“Angelica gigas Nakai (AG), a traditional medicinal herb, is garnering scientific attention for its potential in addressing a variety of health conditions.”
Angelica gigas ... Angelica gigas, also called Korean angelica, giant angelica, purple parsnip, and dangquai, is a monocarpic biennial or short lived perennial ...
Vascular disease is intimately linked to obesity-induced metabolic syndrome, and AG extract (AGE) shows beneficial effects on obesity-associated vascular dysfunction. However, the effectiveness of AGE against obesity and its underlying mechanisms have not yet been extensively investigated. In this new study, researchers Geum-Hwa Lee, Hwa-Young Lee, Young-Je Lim, Ji-Hyun Kim, Su-Jin Jung, Eun-Soo Jung, Soo-Wan Chae, Juwon Lee, Junghyun Lim, Mohammad Mamun Ur Rashid, Kyung Hyun Min, and Han-Jung Chae from Jeonbuk National University and Jeonbuk National University Hospital supplemented 40 high fat diet (HFD) rats with 100–300 mg/kg/day of AGE to determine its efficacy in regulating vascular dysfunction.
“[...] the primary aim of this study is to examine the inhibitory effects of AGE on dyslipidemia-associated vascular dysfunction, with a focus on its potential mechanisms of action.”
The vascular relaxation responses to acetylcholine were impaired in HFD rats, while the administration of AGE restored the diminished relaxation pattern. Endothelial dysfunction, including increased plaque area, accumulated reactive oxygen species, and decreased nitric oxide (NO) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) Ser1177 phosphorylation, were observed in HFD rats, whereas AGE reversed endothelial dysfunction and its associated biochemical signaling. Furthermore, AGE regulated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and IRE1α sulfonation and its subsequent sirt1 RNA decay through controlling regulated IRE1α-dependent decay (RIDD) signaling, ultimately promoting NO bioavailability via the SIRT1-eNOS axis in aorta and endothelial cells.
Independently, AGE enhanced AMPK phosphorylation, additionally stimulating SIRT1 and eNOS deacetylation and its associated NO bioavailability. Decursin, a prominent constituent of AGE, exhibited a similar effect in alleviating endothelial dysfunctions. These data suggest that AGE regulates dyslipidemia-associated vascular dysfunction by controlling ROS-associated ER stress responses, especially IRE1α-RIDD/sirt1 decay and the AMPK-SIRT1 axis.
“Ultimately, this study presents clearly evidence that AGE is a promising natural product-based functional food/herbal medicine candidate for preventing or regulating hyperlipidemic cardiovascular complications.”
Launched in 2009, Aging publishes papers of general interest and biological significance in all fields of aging research and age-related diseases, including cancer—and now, with a special focus on COVID-19 vulnerability as an age-dependent syndrome. Topics in Aging go beyond traditional gerontology, including, but not limited to, cellular and molecular biology, human age-related diseases, pathology in model organisms, signal transduction pathways (e.g., p53, sirtuins, and PI-3K/AKT/mTOR, among others), and approaches to modulating these signaling pathways.
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A type of ginger native to Southeast Asia has anti-cancer properties, a new study reveals.
What it is: This ginger is called kencur (Kaempferia galanga L.), which is typically used as a spice or prepared as herbal tea. It has a peppery and camphorous scent.
What it does: Researchers from Japan’s Osaka Metropolitan University found that kencur extract and its main active component, ethyl p-methoxycinnamate (EMC), can significantly suppress the growth of cancer cells in cellular and animal experiments. EMC is known to decrease the expression of mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), which is linked to the proliferation of cancer cells.
Additionally, the researchers observed that kencur might induce anti-proliferative effects without cytotoxicity to normal cells. This makes it a promising candidate for further study as a safer anti-cancer agent.
What researchers are saying: The study confirms kencur’s anti-cancer properties, the researchers said. However, further research is needed, including clinical trials.
“The results of this study confirm the anti-cancer effects of Kencur extract and its main active ingredient, EMC,” lead author Akiko Kijima said in a statement. “It is highly expected that TFAM will become a new marker for anti-cancer effects in the future as research advances in related fields.”
Extracted from the core of sandalwood trees (santalum album tree), sandalwood oil has been used for many centuries by several cultures throughout the world for perfume, soaps, incense and candles. With its earthy sweet scent, this essential oil also is used in the food industry and topically in various cosmetic preparations.
Importantly, this natural oil is known for its health benefits and medicinal applications from antibacterial to anticancer because of its phytochemical constituents. In addition to containing esters, free acids, aldehydes, ketones and santenone, sandalwood oil primarily (90 percent or more) constitutes santalol – equal amounts of two compounds, alpha and beta-santalol.
Now, researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine and collaborators are the first to demonstrate in vivo the chemo-preventive properties of alpha-santalol against prostate cancer development using a transgenic mouse model.
Results of the study, published in the journal Phytomedicine Plus, showed that administration of alpha-santalol decreased the incidence of prostate tumors by decreasing cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis, without causing weight loss or any noticeable side effects. Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a method the body uses to get rid of unneeded or abnormal cells such as cancer cells.
Findings revealed that the area occupied by normal tissue in alpha-santalol-treated mice was 53 percent compared to 12 percent in control mice. This suggests that administering alpha-santalol protected the normal tissue and delayed progression from prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, a precancerous condition, to poorly differentiated carcinoma, a high-grade form of cancer where cancer cells and tissue look very abnormal. These results are significant because mortality in prostate cancer patients is mainly attributable to advanced stages of the disease.
In prior studies, the researchers demonstrated the efficacy of alpha-santalol in suppressing growth and inducing apoptotic cell death in cultured human prostate cancer cells. Based on these observations, they selected a genetically engineered mouse model that resembles many features similar to human prostate cancer, eliciting different lesion grades and cancer progression.
“Although our cellular studies provided important mechanistic insights, relevant in vivo models are vital for developing novel chemo-preventive agents for clinical use and to determine if alpha-santalol offers protection against prostate cancer development,” said Ajay Bommareddy, Ph.D., senior author and an associate professor of pharmacology in the Department of Biomedical Science, FAU Schmidt College of Medicine. “Prior to this new study, alpha-santalol’s in vivo efficacy against prostate cancer development had not yet been established.”
Additional findings of the current study showed alpha-santalol reduced the incidence of visible prostate tumors compared to control-treated mice. Only 11 percent in the treated group developed prostate tumors whereas more than half in the control group developed the tumors. The differences in urogenital and prostate weights were statistically significantly different in alpha-santalol-treated mice compared with controls. The average wet weight of urogenital tract in alpha-santalol treated mice was about 74.28 percent lower compared with control mice. Similarly, the average wet weight of the prostate gland was lower by 52.9 percent compared with control mice.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States. An estimated 288,300 new cases were diagnosed in American men last year with about 34,700 estimated deaths.
Current treatment methods for prostate cancer include androgen ablation, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and radical prostatectomy, but are ineffective against advanced prostate cancers. Early detection and local therapy have resulted in improved outcomes but has been challenging with the management of advanced stages.
“Identifying agents that have the ability to selectively target cancerous cells and delay onset and progression of prostate cancer is greatly needed,” said Bommareddy. “Additional studies are essential to systemically explore the feasibility of alpha-santalol as a promising chemo-preventive and anti-tumor agent against human prostate cancer development and to elucidate the mechanisms surrounding the role of pro-apoptotic and antiapoptotic proteins.”
Study co-authors are John Oberlin Jr., PharmD; Kaitlyn Blankenhorn, PharmD; Sarah Hughes, PharmD; Erica Mabry, PharmD; Aaron Knopp, PharmD; Adam L. VanWert, PharmD, Ph.D., all with the Wilkes University Nesbitt School of Pharmacy; Chandradhar Dwivedi, Ph.D., South Dakota State University; Isaiah Pinkerton, a graduate of Wilkes University; and Linda Gutierrez, M.D., Wilkes University.
- FAU -
About the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine:
FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine is one of approximately 156 accredited medical schools in the U.S. The college was launched in 2010, when the Florida Board of Governors made a landmark decision authorizing FAU to award the M.D. degree. After receiving approval from the Florida legislature and the governor, it became the 134th allopathic medical school in North America. With more than 70 full and part-time faculty and more than 1,300 affiliate faculty, the college matriculates 64 medical students each year and has been nationally recognized for its innovative curriculum. To further FAU’s commitment to increase much needed medical residency positions in Palm Beach County and to ensure that the region will continue to have an adequate and well-trained physician workforce, the FAU Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine Consortium for Graduate Medical Education (GME) was formed in fall 2011 with five leading hospitals in Palm Beach County. The Consortium currently has five Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited residencies including internal medicine, surgery, emergency medicine, psychiatry, and neurology.
About Florida Atlantic University: Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students across six campuses located along the southeast Florida coast. In recent years, the University has doubled its research expenditures and outpaced its peers in student achievement rates. Through the coexistence of access and excellence, FAU embodies an innovative model where traditional achievement gaps vanish. FAU is designated a Hispanic-serving institution, ranked as a top public university by U.S. News & World Report and a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.
Study highlights importance of quality and potency of saw palmetto extracts in prostate health supplements
7 out of 28 popular products studied contain the amount of authentic saw palmetto extract shown to be clinically effective in relieving lower urinary tract symptoms affecting millions of men
A new study published in the Journal of Urology Open Plusreveals that 7 saw palmetto products met the identity and potency standards to effectively address urinary tract symptoms associated with an enlarged prostate. According to the lead author of the study, Dr. Bilal Chughtai, who is a board-certified urologist, of the 28 supplements included in the study, only six of the lipid extracts and one multi-active product were found to have the appropriate dosage of 320 milligrams of saw palmetto extract and the minimum 80% fatty acids clinically shown to address inflammation and improve symptoms that nearly all men will experience in their lifetime, like increased urination, sudden urgency, weak stream and disrupted sleep.
The study included some of the popular saw palmetto retail products, which consumers find in stores and online platforms like Amazon, including berry powders, extracts, blends and multi-actives. The blinded study was performed at Eurofins Food Chemistry Testing, Inc., Madison, WI. Total fatty acid content ranged from 0.796% for a berry powder product to 89.923% for a lipid extract product. None of the berry powders met the criteria for clinical efficacy. Lab tests confirmed that Valensa USPlus® was unique in meeting the criteria established in the US Pharmacopeia monograph for standardized saw palmetto extracts (min. 80% total fatty acids), met the lipid profile for an authentic product, and was found to contain the clinically effective dose of 320 mg.
“Only concentrated extract of mature saw palmetto berries has been found to inhibit the biological process by which testosterone gets converted to DHT, which leads to benign prostate enlargement,” said Dr. Bilal Chughtai. “This study not only confirms the rampant variability of saw palmetto products, but also highlights the need for physicians and industry to verify the quality of the supplements they’re recommending to patients and consumers to ensure the best results possible.”
Saw palmetto is a wildcraft plant native to remote areas of the southeastern U.S. Among increased demand of saw palmetto, there has been widespread misrepresentation, blending and dilution of saw palmetto extracts with less expensive plant oils like coconut, canola, olive and sunflower or use unripened berries that do not provide clinical benefit.
Valensa’s USPlus® is the first and only USP verified ingredient that is a lipidosterolic extract of saw palmetto berry, also known as Serenoa repens. As per the newly-published study, only one of the 28 products met United States Pharmacopeia criteria for a standardized lipidosterolic extract, defined as total fatty acid content ≥80% and a fatty acid profile indicative of authentic Serenoa repens based on the ratios of the lauric acid concentration to 9 other individual fatty acid concentrations.
Valensa’s USPlus®rigorous quality-control process ensures the product contains only mature, wild-harvested, Fresh from Florida® saw palmetto berries that are sourced using sustainable harvesting practices. Valensa USPlus is able to provide this uncompromising quality through a proprietary ultrahigh pressure extraction process that delivers a standardized lipidosterolic extract of saw palmetto for clinical effectiveness.
“Without studies like this to bring quality issues to light, it’s very difficult for consumers to know if they’re taking a supplement full of ‘sawdust’ that doesn’t do anything or a quality saw palmetto product that promotes your prostate health,” said Stephen Hill, Vice President of Quality and Regulatory of Valensa International. “By understanding the role that high-quality saw palmetto extract can play in men’s health, millions of men can benefit from this safe and natural solution to maintaining prostate health and possibly prevent or delay the need for more serious medical interventions down the line.”
Benign prostatic hyperplasia, or an enlarged prostate, affects about 50 percent of men between the ages of 51 and 60 and up to 90 percent of men older than 80. Valensa USPlus is the first and only USP Verified saw palmetto extract ingredient available to men to support lower urinary tract symptoms with no sexual side effects.*^
USP, the United States Pharmacopeia, is a 200 year old non-profit scientific organization that sets standards for drugs and dietary supplements. USP helps protect patient safety and improve the health of people around the world.
*Adapted from: Carraro JC, et al. Prostate. 1996;29:231-240; Debruyne F, et al. Eur Urol. 2002;41:497-506; Latil A, et al. Prostate. 2015;75:1857-1867; Pytel YA, et al. Adv Ther. 2002;19:297-306; Zlotta AR, et al. Eur Urol. 2005;48:269-276
^These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
About Valensa International USPlus® Located in Eustis, FL, Valensa International USPlus is the first and only USP Verified saw palmetto oil extract in the world. Learn more at www.Valensa.com/USPlus/.
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JOURNAL
JU Open Plus
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
27-Jul-2023
Friday, July 14, 2023
21ST CENTURY SPAGYRIC HOMEOPATHY
New study using human fibroid cells supports use of green tea compound as treatment for uterine fibroids
Fibroids are the most common benign uterine tumors and about 25% of patients experience significant symptoms, driving the need for preventative measures
In a pre-clinical, proof-of-concept study from Johns Hopkins Medicine, researchers found that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a green tea compound with powerful antioxidant properties, could be promising for both treating and preventing uterine fibroids. Results of the study, first posted online May 25 in Scientific Reports, add to growing evidence that EGCG may reduce fibroid cell growth. The study was specifically designed to identify the biochemical mechanisms responsible for EGCG action in fibroid cells.
The investigators emphasize that their study involves human fibroid cells grown in the laboratory and treated with EGCG extract to explore the possibility of oral EGCG supplementation as a therapy, rather than just drinking cups of green tea as a preventative measure for uterine fibroids.
“The purpose of this study was to examine how EGCG works to treat and prevent uterine fibroids,” says James Segars Jr., M.D., professor of gynecology and obstetrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “There is no standard protocol for uterine fibroid disease management or prevention, no tools to prevent their growth, so finding a safe nonsurgical therapy is important.”
Uterine fibroids are the most common benign tumors of the uterus. Made up of smooth muscle cells and a large matrix of connective tissue, the fibroids range in size from nearly microscopic to bulky masses that can enlarge and distort the uterus.
An estimated 77% of women will develop fibroids in their lifetime, most of them by age 50. Black and Hispanic women develop them at 1.5 to two times the rate of white women.
While many people with uterine fibroids are without symptoms, about 25% experience significant symptoms including heavy uterine bleeding, pelvic pain and infertility. Uterine fibroids are the leading cause of hospitalizationhysterectomy in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In addition to complete removal of the uterus, surgical treatment may include various means of removing fibroid tumors from the uterine wall.
For the new study, researchers used laboratory cultures of uterine fibroids collected from living patients. Because uterine fibroid cells have a large extracellular matrix (the network of macromolecules and minerals in tissues that support, but are not part of, cells) compared to normal cells, researchers designed their experiments to see if treatment of cells with EGCG affects protein expression associated with this matrix. Specifically, they studied fibronectin, a matrix protein; cyclin D1, a protein involved with cell division; and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) protein.
Cells were dosed with 100 micromoles (a micromole is 1 millionth of a mole) per liter of EGCG in growth media for 24 hours, and then a Western blot — a laboratory technique used to detect a specific protein in a blood or tissue sample — was performed. In this study, researchers looked for levels of cyclin D1 and CTGF proteins in EGCG-treated fibroid cells compared to untreated cell.
They found that EGCG reduced protein levels of fibronectin by 46% to 52%, compared with an untreated control group of fibroid cells. They also found that EGCG disrupted pathways involved in fibroid tumor cell growth, movement, signaling and metabolism, and they saw up to an 86% decrease in CTGF proteins compared with the control group.
“The results from this study show that EGCG targets many signaling pathways involved in fibroid growth, particularly the extracellular matrix,” says study lead author Md Soriful Islam, Ph.D., M.Sc., a postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “EGCG supplements could be an easily accessible and natural way to relieve symptoms and slow fibroid growth.”
These results lend support to the FRIEND (Fibroids and Unexplained Infertility Treatment With Epigallocatechin Gallate; A Natural Compound in Green Tea) study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT05364008), an ongoing clinical trial of EGCG in women with fibroids who are seeking pregnancy. While results from this study show promise, researchers caution that more studies need to be done, and consumers should not try to self-dose with green tea supplements. Future research on EGCG will include clinical trials with large and diverse patient groups to determine optimal doses as well as possible side effects of EGCG supplementation.
Other scientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who contributed to this research are Maclaine Parish, Joshua Brennan and Briana Winer.
Segars has been a primary investigator on research sponsored by Bayer, Abbvie, BioSpecifics Technologies Corp., Allergan and Myovant Sciences. All other authors have no conflicts to disclose.
This research was partly supported by the National Institutes of Health’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the Howard W. and Georgeanna Seegar Jones Endowment.
Washington, D.C.— A new study demonstrates that the human gut microbiome may be a factor in breast health. Lifestyle and diet have long been known to affect human health. In the study, flaxseed components called lignans were shown to influence the relationship between gut microorganisms and the expression of mammary gland microRNAs (miRNAs). A subset of these miRNAs regulates the genes involved in breast cancer, including genes that control cell proliferation and migration. The study was published in Microbiology Spectrum, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
“The gastrointestinal microbiota plays an important role in modifying many components of our diet to impact human health,” said Jennifer Auchtung, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Food Science and Technology Department at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, the editor who coordinated the review of the paper. “In this study, we found correlations between diets enriched in flaxseed, cecal microbiota composition and miRNA profiles in the mammary gland that regulate many pathways, including those involved in cancer development. This preliminary study supports further research into the role that the microbiota plays in dietary approaches to reduce risk factors associated with disease.”
The researchers studied the effects of flaxseed lignans on the microbiota of young female mice. Lignans, fiber-associated compounds found in many foods and particularly plentiful in flaxseed, are associated with reduced breast cancer mortality in postmenopausal women. The researchers found that lignan components generate specific miRNA responses in the mammary gland. miRNAs are short, noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression by targeting the 3’ untranslated region of target mRNAs.
To determine whether the relationship between the microbiota and mammary gland miRNAs could be manipulated to reduce the risk of breast cancer, the researchers fed flaxseed lignan components to female mice to determine whether gut cecal microbiota profiles are related to miRNA expression in the mammary gland. The cecum, the first part of the colon, located in the right lower abdomen near the appendix, is believed to have a role in production of short-chain fatty acids and has been proposed to serve as a reservoir of anaerobic bacteria.
One flaxseed oil lignan requires microbial processing to release bioactive metabolites, small-molecule chemicals produced during metabolism that influence physiology and disease —in this case having antitumor effects. The researchers found that the microbiota and mammary gland miRNA are related and that flaxseed lignans modify the relationship to be non-cancer causing.
“If these findings are confirmed, the microbiota becomes a new target to prevent breast cancer through dietary intervention,” said Elena M. Comelli, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences and the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, the corresponding author on the paper.
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The American Society for Microbiology is one of the largest professional societies dedicated to the life sciences and is composed of 36,000 scientists and health practitioners. ASM's mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences.
ASM advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications, educational opportunities and advocacy efforts. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ASM promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to diverse audiences.
JOURNAL
Microbiology Spectrum
Thursday, September 21, 2023
SPAGYRIC HERBALISM
DGIST Core Protein Resources Center and Honam National Institute of Biological Resources, utilizing island wildlife to treat prostate cancer!
DGIST (DAEGU GYEONGBUK INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY)
The DGIST (President Kuk Yang) Core Protein Resources Center (Center Director Choi Seong-gyun) and Honam National Institute of Biological Resources (Director Ryu Tae-chul) announced on August 14th (Monday) that they have molecularly elucidated the mechanism by which veratramine, extracted from the wild island plant Veratrum japonicum, inhibits the proliferation of prostate cancer cells, through the “Advancing Island Wildlife Materials” (Research Director Choi Gyeong-min) project.
□ Prostate cancer ranks first in incidence among male cancers in Western countries including the United States, and it is also the fastest-growing male cancer in South Korea. In the early stages of onset, hormone suppression therapy can control proliferation; however, as the disease progresses, it becomes hormone-refractory, making treatment more difficult. Therefore, developing treatments using natural substances without side effects is considered an important area of research.
□ Veratramine extracted from Veratrum japonicum, a wild island plant, has been known to inhibit the proliferation of liver cancer and brain neuroglioma cells and is also effective for high blood pressure and inflammatory diseases. However, the effect of veratramine on prostate cancer had not been studied before.
□ The research team led by Choi Seong-gyun applied veratramine to prostate cancer cells and identified the concentration at which it inhibits the cells’ biological functions. They confirmed that veratramine significantly inhibits the proliferation of prostate cancer. Furthermore, the experiments revealed that veratramine significantly reduces the cancer cells’ survivability and mobility.
□ Through immunostaining, proteomics, and microarray analyses, the research team found that veratramine increases the expression of ATM/ATR, a DNA damage-related protein in prostate cancer cells, and suppresses the expression of the Akt protein involved in cancer cell proliferation. Additionally, when veratramine was administered to immunodeficient mice with prostate cancer, both the tumor size and the expression of tumorigenic proteins significantly decreased without any toxic lesions in the parenchymal organs.
□ This research was conducted as part of the “Advancing Island Wildlife Materials” project initiated last April. This project is a collaborative effort involving the Honam National Institute of Biological Resources (Ministry of Environment) and academia–industry collaborations, aimed at accelerating growth in the biosector by fostering bio-material infrastructure. Plans are underway to continue research on enhancing the utility of island-specific wildlife materials in collaboration with relevant organizations.
□ Choi Seong-gyun, Director of the DGIST Core Protein Resources Center, stated, “This research lays the groundwork for developing effective substances that can overcome the limitations of existing treatments using island wildlife extracts. We will take the lead in constructing a utility database for various effective substances from island wildlife extracts for different diseases through active joint research between DGIST and the Honam National Institute of Biological Resources.”
□ Choi Gyeong-min, the leader of the research group, expressed great satisfaction with the excellent results achieved based on inter-ministerial cooperation in the initial stage of the project, stating, “We will continue to meet the public’s expectations through fruitful outcomes from multi-ministerial collaborations.”
□ Kim Hee-yeon and Lee Seung-woo from the DGIST Core Protein Resources Center participated in the research as the first authors, with Choi Seong-gyun as the corresponding author. The research findings were published in the globally recognized natural products scientific journal The American Journal of Chinese Medicine on June 30.
