Combined therapeutic effects of vinblastine and Astragalus saponins in human colon cancer cells and tumor xenograft via inhibition of tumor growth and proangiogenic factors

Our previous study had demonstrated that Astragalus saponins (AST) could reduce the side effects of orthodox chemotherapeutic drugs, while concurrently promote antitumor activity. In the present study, we attempted to investigate the potential synergistic anticarcinogenic effects of AST and a vinca alkaloid vinblastine (VBL). Reduced expression of key proangiogenic and metastatic factors including VEGF, bFGF, metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, and MMP-9 was detected in VBL-treated colon cancer cells, with further downregulation by combined VBL/AST treatment. Subsequently, VBL or AST decreased LoVo cell invasiveness, with further reduction when the drugs were cotreated. Significant growth inhibition and cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase were achieved by either drug treatment with apparent synergistic effects. VBL-induced apoptosis was confirmed but found to be unrelated to induction of the novel apoptotic protein NSAID-activated gene 1. In vivo study in tumor xenograft indicates that combined VBL/AST treatment resulted in sustained regression of tumor growth, with attenuation of the neutropenic and anemic effects of VBL. In addition, downregulation of proangiogenic and proliferative factors was also visualized, with boosting effect by combined drug treatment. These findings have provided evidence that AST combined with adjuvant chemotherapeutics like VBL could alleviate cancer development through diversified modes of action, including the regulation of angiogenesis.

Astragalus saponins modulate cell invasiveness and angiogenesis in human gastric adenocarcinoma cells

AIM OF THE STUDY

We had reported that Astragalus saponins (AST) exert promising anti-tumorigenic effects by suppressing the growth of HT-29 human colon cancer cells and tumor xenograft. In the present study, we further investigated the anti-angiogenic property of AST in human gastric adenocarcinoma cells (AGS) and attempted to elucidate the underlying mechanism.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Viability of AGS cells was measured by using the MTT reduction method. Western blotting was performed to examine the effect of AST on apoptotic- and cell growth-related protein expression. Effect of AST on cell cycle progression was also evaluated using PI staining. A Matrigel invasion assay was then employed to demonstrate the effect of AST on the invasiveness of gastric cancer cells. The expression of invasion-associated proteins (VEGF and MMPs) was also investigated.

RESULTS

AST could induce apoptosis in AGS cells by activating caspase 3 with subsequent cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Besides, cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase had been observed in AST-treated cells, leading to substantial growth inhibition. The anti-proliferative effect of AST was associated with the regulation of cyclin B1, p21 and c-myc. Results indicate that the number of AGS cells invaded through the Matrigel membrane was significantly reduced upon AST treatment, with concomitant down-regulation of the pro-angiogenic protein vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) as well as the metastatic proteins metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9.

CONCLUSION

AST derived from the medicinal plant Astragalus membranaceus could modulate the invasiveness and angiogenesis of AGS cells besides its pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative activities. These findings also suggest that AST has the potential to be further developed into an effective chemotherapeutic agent in treating advanced and metastatic gastric cancers.

Experimental investigation of an optically amplified time-division-multiplexed polarization-insensitive fiber-optic michelson interferometric sensor system

We experimentally investigate optically amplified time-division-multiplexed polarization-insensitive fiber-optic Michelson interferometric (PIFOMI) sensor systems, using an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) and a phase-generated carrier (PGC) demodulation technique. The influence of the EDFA on the extinction ratio (ER) of the light pulse and on the minimum phase-detection sensitivity (MPDS) is examined. We find that the EDFA acting as a preamplifier has limited usefulness because the highly amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise generated by the EDFA degrades the ER and the MPDS. However, both postamplifiers and in-line EDFA's can work successfully. The MPDS of the unamplified time-division-multiplexed PIFOMI system with an ER of 33 dB was 2.4 x 10(-5) rad/(Hz)(1/2) at ~1 kHz. For maintaining a MPDS of better than 3.4 x 10(-5) rad/(Hz)(1/2) at ~1 kHz, the worst ER's for the postamplified and in-line amplified systems were 20 and 17.8 dB, respectively. The corresponding input signal peak power should be larger than -20 and -25 dBm for the postamplifiers and in-line amplifiers, respectively. When two postamplifiers and two in-line amplifiers are used, an allowable sensor system loss of 47 dB and a link length of the input-output lead fiber of 108 km can be realized for this system with a 32-sensor array. Implementation of optically amplified time-division-multiplexed and wavelength-division multiplexed-time-division multiplexed PIFOMI subarray sensor systems are also addressed.