| Title |
Holotransferrin enhances selective anticancer activity of artemisinin against human hepatocellular carcinoma cells
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Current Medical Science, December 2013
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s11596-013-1212-x |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Xiao-rong Deng, Zhao-xia Liu, Feng Liu, Lei Pan, He-ping Yu, Jin-ping Jiang, Jian-jun Zhang, Li Liu, Jun Yu |
| Abstract |
Artemisinin, also termed qinghaosu, is extracted from the traditional Chinese medicine artemesia annua L. (the blue-green herb) in the early 1970s, which has been confirmed for effectively treating malaria. Additionally, emerging data prove that artemisinin exhibits anti-cancer effects against many types of cancers such as leukemia, melanoma, etc. Artemisinin becomes cytotoxic in the presence of ferrous iron. Since iron influx is high in cancer cells, artemisinin and its analogs selectively kill cancer cells with increased intracellular iron concentrations. This study is aimed to investigate the selective inhibitory effects of artemisinin on SMMC-7721 cells in vitro and determine the effect of holotransferrin, which increases the concentration of ferrous iron in cancer cells, combined with artemisinin on the anticancer activity. MTT assay was used for assessing the proliferation of SMMC-7721 cells treated with artemisinin. The induction of apoptosis and inhibition of colony formation in SMMC-7721 cells treated with artemisinin were determined by TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) and colony formation assay, respectively. The results showed that artemisinin at various concentrations significantly inhibited growth, colony formation and cell viability of SMMC-7721 cells (P<0.05), likely due to induction of apoptosis of SMMC-7721 cells. Of interest, it was found that incubation of artemisinin combined with holotransferrin sensitized the growth inhibitory effect of artemisinin on SMMC-7721 cells (P<0.01). Our data suggest that treatment with artemisinin leads to inhibition of viability and proliferation, and apoptosis of SMMC-7721 cells. Furthermore, we observed that holotransferrin significantly enhanced the anti-cancer activity of artemisinin. This study may provide a potential therapeutic choice for liver cancer. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profile of 1 X user who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 1 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 1 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 25 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 25 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 6 | 24% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 5 | 20% |
| Student > Bachelor | 4 | 16% |
| Researcher | 2 | 8% |
| Lecturer > Senior Lecturer | 1 | 4% |
| Other | 1 | 4% |
| Unknown | 6 | 24% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Chemistry | 5 | 20% |
| Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 3 | 12% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 3 | 12% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 3 | 12% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 2 | 8% |
| Other | 2 | 8% |
| Unknown | 7 | 28% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 31 October 2014.
All research outputs
#17,285,036
of 25,373,627 outputs
Outputs from Current Medical Science
#312
of 719 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#204,518
of 320,425 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Current Medical Science
#3
of 4 outputs
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So far Altmetric has tracked 719 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 2.8. This one is in the 46th percentile – i.e., 46% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
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