Kyung‐Hee Chun

The ability of deguelin to inhibit PI3K/Akt-mediated signaling pathways may contribute to the potency and specificity of this pro-apoptotic drug. Because both premalignant and malignant HBE cells are more sensitive to deguelin than normal HBE cells, deguelin may have potential as both a chemopreventive agent for early stages of lung carcinogenesis and a therapeutic agent against lung cancer.

Galectin-3 plays the key role of activating cell surface receptor through production of protease and boosts gastric cancer metastasis. Galectin-3 has the potential to serve as a useful pharmacological target for prevention of gastric cancer metastasis.

// Hyeok Gu Kang 1, 2 , Da-Hyun Kim 1, 2 , Seok-Jun Kim 1, 2 , Yunhee Cho 1, 2 , Junghyun Jung 3 , Wonhee Jang 3 , Kyung-Hee Chun 1, 2 1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea 2 Brain Korea 21 PLUS Project for Medical Science, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea 3 Department of Life Science, Dongguk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea Correspondence to: Kyung-Hee Chun, email: khchun@yuhs.ac Keywords: galectin-3,

Wee1 is a member of the Serine/Threonine protein kinase family and is a key regulator of cell cycle progression. It has been known that WEE1 is highly expressed and has oncogenic functions in various cancers, but it is not yet studied in gastric cancers. In this study, we investigated the oncogenic role and therapeutic potency of targeting WEE1 in gastric cancer. At first, higher expression levels of WEE1 with lower survival probability were determined in stage 4 gastric cancer patients or male

Weight loss ≥ 5 percent is sufficient to significantly reduce health risks for obese people; therefore, development of novel weight loss compounds with reduced toxicity is urgently required. After screening of natural compounds with antiadipogenesis properties in 3T3-L1 cells, we determined that kahweol, a coffee-specific diterpene, inhibited adipogenesis. Kahweol reduced lipid accumulation and expression levels of adipogenesis and lipid accumulation-related factors. Levels of phosphorylated AKT

Retinoids that regulate cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis have shown promising results in preclinical studies and in a few clinical trials of cancer chemoprevention and therapy. However, the clinical use of retinoids is limited by resistance of certain malignant cells to their antitumor effects and by side effects. To identify more potent retinoids, we examined the effects of heteroarotinoids (Hets), new synthetic retinoids with reduced toxicity, on the growth of human head and neck sq

The farnesyltransferase inhibitor SCH66336 exhibits antitumor activity in vitro and in vivo; however, its mechanism of action is still unresolved. We found that SCH66336 suppressed growth and induced apoptosis of human head and neck squamous carcinoma cells (HNSCC). SCH66336 suppressed protein kinase B/Akt activity as well as the phosphorylation of the Akt substrates glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3 beta, forkhead transcription factor, and BAD. Infection of SqCC/Y1 cells with an adenovirus that

Galectin-3 is known to modulate cell proliferation and apoptosis and is highly expressed in human cancers, but its function in gastric cancer is still controversial. Here, we examined the role of galectin-3 in gastric cancer cells by silencing it with synthetic double-stranded siRNA. After silencing of galectin-3, cell numbers decreased and cell shape changed. Galectin-3 siRNA treatment also induced G(1) arrest. DNA microarray analysis was used to assess changes in gene expression following gale

Spondin-2 (SPON2) is involved in cancer progression and metastasis of many tumors; however, its role and underlying mechanism in gastric cancer are still obscure. In this study, we investigated the role of SPON2 and related signaling pathway in gastric cancer progression and metastasis. SPON2 expression levels were found to be upregulated in gastric cancer cell lines and patient tissues compared to normal gastric epithelial cells and normal controls. Furthermore, SPON2 silencing was observed to

The hyaluronan-mediated motility receptor (HMMR) is overexpressed in gastric cancer; however, the apparent role of HMMR has not been well defined owing to lack of detailed studies on gastric tumorigenesis. Therefore, we elucidated the functional and regulatory mechanisms of HMMR in gastric cancer. Using publicly available data, we confirmed HMMR overexpression in patients with gastric cancer. HMMR silencing decreased proliferation, migration, and invasion of gastric cancer cells, whereas HMMR ov

Galectin-3 is a carbohydrate-binding protein and regulates diverse functions, including cell proliferation and differentiation, mRNA splicing, apoptosis induction, immune surveillance and inflammation, cell adhesion, angiogenesis, and cancer-cell metastasis. Galectin-3 is also recommended as a diagnostic or prognostic biomarker of various diseases, including heart disease, kidney disease, and cancer. Galectin-3 exists as a cytosol, is secreted in extracellular spaces on cells, and is also detect

Autophagy is a conserved process that contributes to cell homeostasis. It is well known that induction mainly occurs in response to nutrient starvation, such as starvation of amino acids and insulin, and its mechanisms have been extensively characterized. However, the mechanisms behind cellular glucose deprivation-induced autophagy are as of now poorly understood. In the present study, we determined a mechanism by which glucose deprivation induced the PKC-dependent proteasomal degradation of β-c