Antrodia camphorata Grown on Germinated Brown Rice Suppresses Melanoma Cell Proliferation by Inducing Apoptosis and Cell Differentiation and Tumor Growth

Source:
Song Mj, Park DK, Park H-J. vidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Volume 2013 (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/321096

Melanoma is the most serious type of skin diseases with many obstacles in traditional cancer therapy (e.g., resistance to current method and fast metastatic property). Therefore, establishing more effective and safe treatment regimen is in need. In this study, we investigated Changji mushroom (Antrodia camphorata) grown on germinated brown rice (CBR), as a novel and efficient antimelanoma agent. Antrodia camphorata (AC) is a well-known medicinal mushroom that has been used in oriental medicine for treating various diseases. Previous studies have demonstrated that AC has a wide range of pharmacological activities, including anticancer properties (Chen et al, 2011; Tu et al, 2012; Liu et al, 2011). Specifically, AC induces apoptotic cell death in human leukemia (Hseu et al, 2004), breast (Lin et al, 2012), ovarian (Liu et al, 2011), colon, (Lien et al, 2011) and liver cancer cells (Rao et al, 2011). However, apoptotic effect of AC on melanoma cells has never been studied. In the present study, the inhibitory effect of AC on germinated brown rice (CBR) and on melanoma cell growth was investigated including the induction of apoptotic cell death and melanogenesis as well as the suppressive effect on melanoma growth with the xenografted mice.

Cancer cells generally show uncontrolled/high proliferation, migration, and matrix-invasion potentials (Sherr, 2004). They lost the regulation of cell-cycle checkpoints or were resistant to the programmed cell death (apoptosis). Therefore, inhibition of tumor growth is the most attractive approach in developing anticancer agents.
Current study demonstrated that CBR EtOAc fraction inhibited melanoma cell proliferation through the induction of subsequent apoptosis and melanogenesis. Importantly, in vitro study result was reflected in our in vivo studies that showed significant melanoma growth inhibition in mice implanted with melanoma xenografts upon treatment with CBR EtOAc fraction. Adenosine was investigated as an active component from CBR EtOAc fraction. Further work will be focused on isolating active components in CBR EtOAc extract that contribute to its anticancer activity. In future applications, this study gives the strong evidence that CBR extract may be a strong candidate in novel cancer prevention and therapeutic strategies.
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