Frankincense oil is prepared from aromatic hardened wood resin obtained by tapping Boswellia trees. For thousands of years, it has been important both socially and economically as an ingredient in incense and perfumes. Frankincense oil is a botanical oil distillate made from fermented plants that contains boswellic acid, a component known to have anti-neoplastic properties. We evaluated frankincense oil-induced cytotoxicity in bladder cancer cells. With a window of concentration, frankincense oil suppressed cell viability and induced cytotoxicity in bladder transitional carcinoma J82 cells but not normal bladder urothelial UROtsa cells immortalized with SV40 large T antigen. However, frankincense oil-induced J82 cell death did not result in DNA fragmentation. Microarray and bioinformatics analysis confirmed that frankincense oil activated cell cycle arrest, suppressed cell proliferation, and activated apoptosis in J82 cells through a series of potential pathways. These finding suggest that bladder cancer can be treated through intravesical administration of pharmaceutical agents similar to direct application on melanoma.
Frankincense oil derived from Boswellia carteri induces tumor cell specific cytotoxicity.
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View SamplesA major limitation in the cancer treatment is the ability of cancer cells to become resistant to chemotherapeutic drugs, by multidrug establishment. Here, we evaluate the possibility to utilize MC70, either as ABC transporters inhibitor or as anticancer agent, in monotherapy or in combination with doxorubicin for cancer treatment. The study was carried out in MCF7/ADR and Caco-2, breast and colon cancer cells, respectively. Cell growth and apoptosis were measured by MTT assay and DNA laddering Elisa kit, respectively. Cell cycle perturbation and cellular targets modulation were analyzed by flowcytometry and western blotting, respectively. MC70 was analyzed for its interaction with ABC transporters, MDR-1, BCRP and MRP-1, and for its anticancer activity. In MCF7/ADR, MC70 slight inhibited cell proliferation and strongly enhanced doxorubicin effectiveness; conversely in Caco-2, it inhibited cell growth without affecting doxorubicin efficacy. In addition, it induced apoptosis, canceled in favor of necrosis when it was given in combination with high doses of the anthracycline. Moreover, MC70 inhibited cell migration probably through its residual activity as sigma-1 ligand. Among the hypothesized molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for all these effects, modulations of cell cycle, of pAkt and of the three MAPKs phosphorylation were evidenced while activity at transcription level was excluded. MC70 can be considered as a potential new anticancer agent with the capability to enhance doxorubicin effectiveness and an interesting role in the treatment of chemotherapy resistant tumors.
MC70 potentiates doxorubicin efficacy in colon and breast cancer in vitro treatment.
Cell line, Treatment
View SamplesWe analysed whole PolyA+ RNA from human osteosarcoma U2OS cells depleted for human Cactin or transfected with a control shRNA. Overall design: Two independent shRNAs targeting human Cactin (shCac_C and shCac_D), a control shRNA (shCtrl), a single cell line (U2OS)
Human cactin interacts with DHX8 and SRRM2 to assure efficient pre-mRNA splicing and sister chromatid cohesion.
Cell line, Treatment, Subject, Time
View SamplesWe used gene expression profiling to address several specific questions that arose in a study of repair of ultraviolet C radiation in C elegans, as well as to generate hypotheses regarding the possible mechanism(s) of decreased DNA repair observed in old adults in that study. This analysis was performed in order to analyze gene expression in the strain (JK1107) and experimental conditions that we used for our DNA repair studies.
Decline of nucleotide excision repair capacity in aging Caenorhabditis elegans.
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View SamplesThe metabolic enzyme diglyceride acyltransferase (DGAT) is responsible for the synthesis of triglycerides. Loss of its expression may sensitize cells to conditions of nutrient and oxygen that are commonly present in tumors. This study is designed to identify stress response pathways that may be induced following the shRNA-mediated knockdown of the two genes coding for the DGAT enzymes. In vitro growth conditions lacking serum and oxygen were used to mimic growth conditions commonly found in poorly perfused tumor domains
Triglycerides Promote Lipid Homeostasis during Hypoxic Stress by Balancing Fatty Acid Saturation.
Specimen part, Cell line, Treatment
View SamplesThe metabolic enzyme diglyceride acyltransferase (DGAT) is responsible for the synthesis of triglycerides. Loss of its expression may sensitize cells to conditions of nutrient and oxygen that are commonly present in tumors. This study is designed to identify stress response pathways that may be induced following the shRNA-mediated knockdown of the two genes coding for the DGAT enzymes.
Triglycerides Promote Lipid Homeostasis during Hypoxic Stress by Balancing Fatty Acid Saturation.
Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesIn order to identify miR-21 targets by a biochemical high-throughput method, we immunopurified RISC Complex and associated mRNAs in both control and miR-21 overexpressing Jurkat cells.
miR-21 is a negative modulator of T-cell activation.
Cell line
View SamplesT-lymphocyte activation is efficiently mimicked in vitro by treatment with anti CD3 / anti CD28 antibodies. We report miR-21 induction upon CD3/CD28 stimulation of primary T-lymphocytes. In order to assess the function of miR-21 in T-lymphocytes we interfered with miR-21 function by lentiviral transduction of a miR-21 sponge construct. MRNA profile of miR-21 sponge and control transduced T-lymphocytes 48hrs after stimulation.
miR-21 is a negative modulator of T-cell activation.
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View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Exosome transfer from stromal to breast cancer cells regulates therapy resistance pathways.
Cell line
View SamplesStromal communication with cancer cells can influence treatment response. We show that stromal and breast cancer (BrCa) cells utilize paracrine and juxtacrine signaling to drive chemotherapy and radiation resistance. Upon heterotypic interaction, exosomes are transferred from stromal to BrCa cells. RNA within exosomes, which are largely non-coding transcripts and transposable elements, stimulates the pattern recognition receptor RIG-I to activate STAT1-dependent anti-viral signaling. In parallel, stromal cells also activate NOTCH3 on BrCa cells. The paracrine anti-viral and juxtacrine NOTCH3 pathways converge as STAT1 facilitates transcriptional responses to NOTCH3 and expands therapy resistant tumor-initiating cells. Primary human and/or mouse BrCa analysis support the role of anti-viral/NOTCH3 pathways in NOTCH signaling and stroma-mediated resistance, which is abrogated by combination therapy with gamma secretase inhibitors. Thus, stromal cells orchestrate an intricate cross-talk with BrCa cells by utilizing exosomes to instigate anti-viral signaling. This expands BrCa subpopulations adept at resisting therapy and re-initiating tumor growth.
Exosome transfer from stromal to breast cancer cells regulates therapy resistance pathways.
No sample metadata fields
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