Inhibition of mitogen activated protein kinases increases the sensitivity of A549 lung cancer cells to the cytotoxicity induced by a kava chalcone analog.

We are interested in investigating the biological activity of chalcones, a major class of compounds found in the beverage kava, in order to develop potent and selective chemopreventive candidates. Consumption of kava in the South Pacific Islands is inversely correlated with cancer incidence, even among smokers. Accordingly, chalcones have anti-cancer activities in animal and cell culture models.

Extracellular signal regulated kinase 5 mediates signals triggered by the novel tumor promoter palytoxin.

Palytoxin is classified as a non-12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-type skin tumor because it does not bind to or activate protein kinase C. Palytoxin is thus a novel tool for investigating alternative signaling pathways that may affect carcinogenesis. We previously showed that palytoxin activates three major members of the mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) family, extracellular signal regulated kinase 1 and 2 (ERK1/2), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and p38.