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Anti-cancer effects of enteric-coated polymers containing mistletoe lectin in murine melanoma cells in vitro and in vivo

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Abstract

In this study, we evaluated the effects of Korean mistletoe (Viscum album L. var. coloratum) coated with a biodegradable polymer (Eudragit®) wall on the growth of mouse melanoma in vivo. Oral administration of 4 % (430 mg/kg/day) enteric-coated mistletoe resulted in a significant reduction in tumor volume on day 14 compared to the negative control group in B16F10 melanoma-inoculated BDF1 mice. When we measured the survival rate, enteric-coated mistletoe-received mice had a higher survival rate after day 12. Also, we investigated the mechanism involving the cancer cell growth inhibition when melanoma cells were treated with Korean mistletoe lectin (Viscum album L. var. coloratum agglutinin, VCA) and its extract in vitro. As a result, a significant G0/G1 arrest was observed in both B16BL6 and B16F10 melanoma cells with VCA or mistletoe extract. In addition, VCA or mistletoe extract induced an increase in both early and late apoptosis in cells. When we studied the molecular mechanism, our results showed that VCA and mistletoe extract can increase activated multiple caspases (caspase-1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9), dose-dependently. We also found out that VCA and mistletoe treatment causes a significant decrease in the expression of procaspase-3 and 8.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by “Establishment of Economic Technology for the Cultivation of Mistletoe and Development of Strategic Export Products Using Its Functional Compounds (Project No.: 313011-3),” Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, South Korea, and the research Grant funded by Suncheon Research Center for Natural Medicines, South Korea.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Pharmacy, Sunchon National University, 255, Jungangno, Suncheon, Jeonnam, 540-742, Korea

      Seung-Yeon Han & Su-Yun Lyu

    2. Department of Biology, Chonbuk National University, 567, Baekje-daero, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeonbuk, 561-756, Korea

      Chang-Eui Hong & Hwan-Gyu Kim

    3. Suncheon Research Center for Natural Medicines, Suncheon, 540-950, Korea

      Su-Yun Lyu

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    Seung-Yeon Han and Chang-Eui Hong contributed equally to this work.

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    Han, SY., Hong, CE., Kim, HG. et al. Anti-cancer effects of enteric-coated polymers containing mistletoe lectin in murine melanoma cells in vitro and in vivo. Mol Cell Biochem 408, 73–87 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-015-2484-1

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