Transcriptomics and proteomics analyses of anti-cancer mechanisms of TR35-An active fraction from Xinjiang Bactrian camel milk in esophageal carcinoma cell.

Background & Aims: The aim of the paper is to investigate the effect of the active fraction extracted from the Xinjiang Bactrian camel whey on the human cancer cells using an in vitro and in vivo model of human carcinoma of the esophagus.

Methods And Results: Our results demonstrated that an antitumor active fraction, TR35, isolated from Xinjiang Bactrian camel milk could significantly inhibit Eca109 cell proliferation and induce its apoptosis (indicated by MTT assay, Annexin V-FITC Apoptosis Detection, and caspase-3 activity). Moreover, we found that TR35 could inhibit the growth of xenografted tumor in nude mice without loss in body weight. Furthermore, we used RNA-Seq and 2-DE combined Mass Spectrometry analysis to identify differentially expressed RNA and protein markers of apoptosis and necrosis. Compared with untreated Eca109 cells, a total of 405 differentially expressed genes and 55 differentially expressed proteins were identified in TR35 treated Eca109 cells. KEGG analysis uncovered signaling pathways closely associated with cancer inhibition that were enriched in the TR35-treated cells.

Conclusions: These results might implicate that downregulation of specific proteins identified in this study may be the cause of this tumor growth inhibition. This study sheds light on the potential therapeutic advantages based on the historical anti-cancer activities of camel milk.