Quercetin Inhibits Proliferation and Induces Apoptosis of B16 Melanoma Cells In Vitro

Malignant melanoma is an aggressive cancer with a poor prognosis despite numerous advances in therapeutic strategies. Quercetin is a plant-derived flavonoid suggested to have potent anticancer properties. Quercetin has no demonstrable toxicity in humans, further supporting the possibility of using quercetin therapeutically. We chose to investigate quercetin efficacy against B16 murine melanoma cells and identify the mechanisms of anticancer activity. Treatment of B16 melanoma cells with 50 μg/mL quercetin resulted in a 75% reduction in viability from 6 through 48 h post-treatment. The reduction in cancer cell viability was comparable to or greater than what was observed with etoposide, an established chemotherapeutic. Specifically, we found Quercetin reduced the proliferation of B16 melanoma cells at 48 h as much or more than etoposide. Although quercetin reduced the proportion of cells in the S and G2/M stages of the cell cycle, this could largely be explained by an increase in the subG1 population in quercetin-treated cells (suggesting apoptosis). Quercetin-induced apoptosis was confirmed by flow cytometry analysis of Annexin V+ cells. Collectively, our findings demonstrate quercetin reduces proliferation and induces apoptosis of B16 melanoma cells in vitro.

SPINE bioinformatics and data-management aspects of high-throughput structural biology

SPINE (Structural Proteomics In Europe) was established in 2002 as an integrated research project to develop new methods and technologies for high‐throughput structural biology. Development areas were broken down into workpackages and this article gives an overview of ongoing activity in the bioinformatics workpackage. Developments cover target selection, target registration, wet and dry laboratory data management and structure annotation as they pertain to high‐throughput studies. Some individual projects and developments are discussed in detail, while those that are covered elsewhere in this issue are treated more briefly. In particular, this overview focuses on the infrastructure of the software that allows the experimentalist to move projects through different areas that are crucial to high‐throughput studies, leading to the collation of large data sets which are managed and eventually archived and/or deposited.