I read with great interest the recent article by Ha et al.Citation1 Tectorigenin also attenuates tumor growth in a number of systemic malignancies.
Tectorigenin inhibits tumor growth in hepatocellular malignancies. It mediates this role by augmenting intra-tumoral apoptosis while at the same time it reduces intra-tumoral proliferationCitation2. It mediates this in turn by attenuating the “mitochondrial membrane potential” within the cancer cells. ROS production is also significantly augmentedCitation3. Increased nuclear fragmentation is typically seen following exposure to tectorigenin. These changes are time as well as dose dependent and have recently been confirmed in HSC-T6 cell lines as well as HepG2 cell lines. Besides the above changes, caspase 3 activation is augmented markedly.
Attenuation of tumor growth is also seen in urological tumors such as prostatic malignanciesCitation4. IGF-1 receptor protein expression is decreased markedly while TIMP-3 gene expression is significantly augmentedCitation5. As a result, increased G1 phase arrest is seen following exposure to tectorigenin. It also mediates this role in part by up-regulating p27 expression within the cancerous cellsCitation6. It also has a simultaneous negative impact on PSA expression. These changes have recently been confirmed in PC-3 as well as LNCaP cell lines. p21WAF1 expression is also accentuated besides the above changes. In addition, PDEF expression is decreased thus further contributing to increased intra-tumoral apoptosisCitation7.
The above examples clearly illustrate the significant anti- proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects of tectorigenin.
References
- Ha LM, Que DT, Huyen DT, et al. Toxicity, analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of tectorigenin. Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol 2013;35:336--340
- Wu JH, Wang YR, Huang WY, Tan RX. Anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects of tectorigenin on hepatic stellate cells. World J Gastroenterol 2010;16:3911–3918
- Jiang CP, Ding H, Shi DH, et al. Pro-apoptotic effects of tectorigenin on human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells. World J Gastroenterol 2012;18:1753–1764
- Thelen P, Scharf JG, Burfeind P. Tectorigenin and other phytochemicals extracted from leopard lily Belamcanda chinensis affect new and established targets for therapies in prostate cancer. Carcinogenesis 2005;26:1360–1367
- Morrissey C, Bektic J, Spengler B. Phytoestrogens derived from Belamcanda chinensis have an antiproliferative effect on prostate cancer cells in vitro. J Urol 2004;172:2426–2433
- Thelen P, Peter T, Hunermund A. Phytoestrogens from Belamcanda chinensis regulate the expression of steroid receptors and related cofactors in LNCaP prostate cancer cells. BJU Int 2007;100:199–203
- Stettner M, Kaulfuss S, Burfeind P. The relevance of estrogen receptor-beta expression to the antiproliferative effects observed with histone deacetylase inhibitors and phytoestrogens in prostate cancer treatment. Mol Cancer Ther 2007;6:2626–2633