These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Chemopreventive activity of parthenolide against UVB-induced skin cancer and its mechanisms.
    Author: Won YK, Ong CN, Shi X, Shen HM.
    Journal: Carcinogenesis; 2004 Aug; 25(8):1449-58. PubMed ID: 15033901.
    Abstract:
    Parthenolide (PN) is a major sesquiterpene lactone of feverfew (Tanacetum parthanium) with known anti-inflammatory activity. However, the anticancer effects of PN have not been well studied. In the present investigation, we examined the cancer chemopreventive property of PN using a combination of in vivo and in vitro approaches. We first tested the anticancer effect of PN in UVB-induced skin cancer model. Mice fed with PN (1 mg/day) showed a delayed onset of papilloma incidence, a significant reduction in papilloma multiplicity (papilloma/mouse) and sizes when compared with the UVB-only group. To our surprise, neither PN nor the known cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitor celecoxib inhibit UVB-induced COX-2 expression and epidermal prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production. We next investigated the molecular mechanism(s) involved in its anticancer effects using cultured JB6 murine epidermal cells. Non-cytotoxic concentrations of PN significantly inhibited UVB-induced activator protein-1 DNA binding and transcriptional activity. In addition, PN pre-treatment also inhibited c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 kinase activation. More importantly, we found that impaired AP-1, JNK and p38 signaling led to the sensitization of JB6 cells to UVB-induced apoptosis. Data from our study for the first time confirm the anticancer property of PN in an animal model, and provide evidence that the inhibitory effects on AP-1 and mitogen-activated protein kinases serve as one of the underlying mechanisms for the cancer chemopreventive property of PN.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]