Publications by authors named "Victor Hugo Villar"
Several important biological activities have been attributed to the pentacyclic triterpene ursolic acid (UA), being its antitumoral effect extensively studied in human adenocarcinomas. In this work, we focused on the efficacy and molecular mechanisms involved in the antitumoral effects of UA, as single agent or combined with doxorubicin (DXR), in human soft tissue sarcoma cells. UA (5-50 μM) strongly inhibited (up to 80%) the viability of STS cells at 24 h and its proliferation in soft agar, with higher concentrations increasing apoptotic death up to 30%.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe pentacyclic triterpenes oleanolic acid (OLA) and maslinic acid (MLA) are natural compounds present in many plants and dietary products consumed in the Mediterranean diet (e.g., pomace and virgin olive oils).
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- Doxorubicin's effectiveness against soft tissue sarcomas (STS) is limited by toxicity and the development of multidrug resistance, primarily due to high levels of efflux pumps like P-glycoprotein.
- Nilotinib was found to be more effective than imatinib, inhibiting tumor growth significantly and enhancing the effects of doxorubicin by at least two-fold, leading to a sustained reduction in cell number even after treatment cessation.
- On a molecular level, nilotinib inhibits activation of key signaling pathways and reduces the expression of efflux pumps, improving doxorubicin retention in cancer cells and showing promise for enhanced clinical treatments in STS.