In vivo amelioration of endogenous antitumor autoantibodies via low-dose P4N through the LTA4H/activin A/BAFF pathway.

Cancer progression is associated with the development of antitumor autoantibodies in patients' sera. Although passive treatment with antitumor antibodies has exhibited remarkable therapeutic efficacy, inhibitory effects on tumor progression by endogenous antitumor autoantibodies (EAAs) have been limited. In this study, we show that PN, a derivative of the plant lignan nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), enhanced the production of EAAs and inhibited tumor growth at low noncytotoxic concentrations via its immunoregulatory activity.

Hepatocellular carcinoma targeting agents: conjugates of nitroimidazoles with trimethyl nordihydroguaiaretic acid.

Cancer has been a primary global health issue for decades, with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) resulting in more than half a million new cases annually. With survival rates as low as <5% after five years, it remains a poorly treated cancer. Nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), an antioxidant, was previously proven effective against cancer cells.

Regulation of zebrafish zona pellucida gene activity in developing oocytes.

The two major zona pellucida proteins of the zebrafish chorion, Zp2 and Zp3, are encoded by multicopy genes arranged in tandem arrays on chromosomes 20 and 2, respectively. Expression of these zp genes in zebrafish is oocyte specific, and we report herein that their activity in developing oocytes is dependent on conserved CCAAT box sites in their promoters. A 140-bp region immediately upstream of the transcription initiation site (position 1) of the zp2 genes has been homogenized by gene conversion and contains a single CCAAT box located at -138 that is necessary for promoter activity in oocytes residing in stage I and early stage II ovarian follicles as determined by microinjection of promoter constructs linked to a luciferase reporter gene.

Survivin-dependent and -independent pathways and the induction of cancer cell death by tetra-O-methyl nordihydroguaiaretic acid.

The inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family encodes a group of Baculovirus IAP repeat domain (BIR)-containing proteins that suppress apoptosis. Some of the IAPs, survivin and XIAP in particular, are differentially overexpressed in many types of human cancer and are deemed attractive anticancer targets. Here we review the regulation of survivin expression and survivin's functions in both normal and cancerous cells, and some of the current survivin-targeted cancer therapy.

Reversal of multidrug resistance by two nordihydroguaiaretic acid derivatives, M4N and maltose-M3N, and their use in combination with doxorubicin or paclitaxel.

Purpose: Multidrug resistance (MDR) continues to be a major obstacle for successful anticancer therapy. One of the principal factors implicated in MDR is the over expression of P-glycoprotein (Pgp), the product of the MDR1 gene.

Methods: Here we explore the possibility of using the transcription inhibitor tetra-O-methyl nordihydroguaiaretic acid (M4N) to inhibit Sp1-regulated MDR1 gene expression and restore doxorubicin and paclitaxel sensitivity to multidrug resistant human cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.