The anticancer activity of ethanol extract isolated from Goji berry (EEGB) on T47D human breast cancer cell line has been reported. Cell viability and cell proliferation were examined with the use of BrdU, MTT and NR methods. Induction of apoptosis was assessed by propidium iodide and Hoechst 33342 staining. Expression of genes involved in cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle control and regulation of transcription was estimated using Western blotting analysis. EEGB inhibited the proliferation of breast cancer cells in a time-, and dose-dependent manner. The study confirmed the lack of EEGB cytotoxic activity to normal human skin fibroblasts. Western blot analysis demonstrated an increase in pro-apoptotic and a decrease in anti-apoptotic proteins’ expression in cells treated with the extract. Anticancer activity and lack of toxicity against normal cells indicate a chemopreventive potential of Goji berries in breast cancer treatment.

Gastric cancer (GC) has high incidence rates and constitutes a common cause of cancer mortality. Despite advances in treatment, GC remains a challenge in cancer therapy which is why novel treatment strategies are needed. The interest in natural compounds has increased significantly in recent years because of their numerous biological activities, including anti-cancer action. The isolation of the bioactive compounds from Coptis chinensis Franch was carried out with the Centrifugal Partition Chromatography (CPC) technique, using a biphasic solvent system composed of chloroform (CHCl₃)—methanol (MeOH)—water (H₂O) (4:3:3, v/v) with an addition of hydrochloric acid and trietylamine. The identity of the isolated alkaloids was confirmed using a high resolution HPLC-MS chromatograph. The phytochemical constituents of Coptis chinensis such as berberine, jatrorrhizine, palmatine and coptisine significantly inhibited the viability and growth of gastric cancer cell lines ACC-201 and NCI-N87 in a dose-dependent manner, with coptisine showing the highest efficacy as revealed using MTT and BrdU assays, respectively. Flow cytometry analysis confirmed the coptisine-induced population of gastric cancer cells in sub-G1 phase and apoptosis. The combination of coptisine with cisplatin at the fixed-ratio of 1:1 exerted synergistic and additive interactions in ACC-201 and NCI-N87, respectively, as determined by means of isobolographic analysis. In in vivo assay, coptisine was safe for developing zebrafish at the dose equivalent to the highest dose active in vitro, but higher doses (greater than 10 times) caused morphological abnormalities in larvae. Our findings provide a theoretical foundation to further studies on more detailed mechanisms of the bioactive compounds from Coptis chinensis Franch anti-cancer action that inhibit GC cell survival in in vitro settings.

Earthworm coelomic fluid (CF) is known as a rich source of various bioactive compounds with promising anticancer features. However, it has been demonstrated that CF affects functionality of both, cancer and normal cells. This non-selective activity causes a major problem for medical application of CF. In this study, we present the anticancer activity of the active protein-carbohydrate fraction (AF) isolated from thermally treated CF of earthworm Dendrobaena veneta. The in vitro effect of the AF was examined in human colon model including normal human colon epithelium (CCD 841 CoTr) and human colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29 and LS180) cell lines. We investigated the impact of AF on cell viability neutral red and lactate dehydrogenase assays, morphology May-Grünwald-Giemsa staining assay proliferation MTT tetrazolium salt and BrdU incorporation assays as well as cell cycle progression propidium iodide/RNase staining and the activity of human 20S proteasome the hydrolysis of AMC from a Suc-LLVY-AMC peptide substrate. Additionally, the influence of AF on apoptosis was examined in HT-29 cells by Annexin V/PI, Hoechst 33342 staining and active caspase-3 assays. Our investigation demonstrated that AF at the tested concentration range does not affect the viability and morphology of CCD 841 CoTr cells. Simultaneously, AF inhibits human 20S proteasome activity as well as significantly decreases mitochondrial metabolism, disturbs cell cycle and induces apoptosis via activation of procaspase-3 in HT-29 cancer cells. Obtained results demonstrate the antiproliferative and proapoptotic activity of AF that can be useful in developing therapeutic strategies to treat human colon cancer.

Ovarian cancer remains the most lethal gynecologic malignancy. This is due to lack of effective screening, diagnosis predominance in late stage of disease, a high recurrence rate after primary therapy, and poor treatment response in platinum-resistant tumor. Thus, unique biomarkers, predictive of individual disease course, and prognosis are urgently needed. The aim of our study was to assess the clinicopathological significance of plasma, peritoneal fluid, and tumor tissue levels of mesothelin in epithelial ovarian cancer patients. Plasma and peritoneal fluid levels of mesothelin were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Tissue expression of MSLN was evaluated using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Preoperative plasma mesothelin levels were significantly higher in epithelial ovarian cancer patients in comparison to the patients with benign tumor and controls. There have been noticed significant differences in the plasma mesothelin levels based on International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage, grade, and histology type. No significant changes were observed between Kurman and Shih type I versus type II epithelial ovarian cancer. Interestingly, peritoneal fluid mesothelin levels revealed significant differences based on both grade and Kurman and Shih–type epithelial ovarian cancer. There were no relevant changes in the mesothelin level in peritoneal fluid between different stages and histology types compared to benign tumor. MSLN expression level in tumor tissue was significantly higher based on stage, grade, and Kurman and Shih–type epithelial ovarian cancer than in the benign masses. In addition, data showed significant higher MSLN expression in endometrioid tumors compared to benign masses and serous tumors. Plasma, peritoneal fluid, and tumor tissue levels of mesothelin positively correlated with level of CA125. Low mesothelin concentrations in plasma were also associated with prolonged patient survival. More importantly, we revealed that plasma mesothelin level was correlated with both peritoneal fluid mesothelin level and tumor MSLN expression. This study highlights that plasma mesothelin level may be a useful noninvasive biomarker surrogate for local tumor mesothelin status in monitoring of epithelial ovarian cancer patients.