Photodynamic Therapy Using a Novel Phosphorus Tetraphenylporphyrin Induces an Anticancer Effect via Bax/Bcl-xL-related Mitochondrial Apoptosis in Biliary Cancer Cells.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) uses photosensitizer activation by light of a specific wavelength, and is a promising treatment for various cancers; however, the detailed mechanism of PDT remains unclear. Therefore, we investigated the anticancer effect of PDT using a novel phosphorus tetraphenylporphyrin (Ptpp) in combination with light emitting diodes (Ptpp-PDT) in the NOZ human biliary cancer cell line. Cell viability and apoptosis were examined by MTT assay, flow cytometry and TUNEL assay for 24 hr after Ptpp-PDT.

The Effect of Estrogen on Hepatic Fat Accumulation during Early Phase of Liver Regeneration after Partial Hepatectomy in Rats.

Fatty liver is common in men and post-menopausal women, suggesting that estrogen may be involved in liver lipid metabolism. The aim of this study is to be clear the role of estrogen and estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) in fat accumulation during liver regeneration using the 70% partial hepatectomy (PHX) model in male, female, ovariectomized (OVX) and E-treated OVX (OVX-E) rats. Liver tissues were sampled at 0-48 hr after PHX and fat accumulation, fatty acid translocase (FAT/CD36), sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP1c), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα), proliferative cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and ERα were examined by Oil Red O, qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, respectively.

The HDAC Inhibitor, SAHA, Prevents Colonic Inflammation by Suppressing Pro-inflammatory Cytokines and Chemokines in DSS-induced Colitis.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract that is caused by multiple factors, including dysfunction of the immune system and genetic and epigenetic alterations. Aberrant epigenetic regulation, especially histone acetylation, was found in biopsies from IBD patients and mouse models of colitis, suggesting that an epigenetic treatment approach may be useful for IBD therapy. Therefore, we investigated the effects of the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), in a mouse model of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis.