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KMID : 1134820150440020200
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Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
2015 Volume.44 No. 2 p.200 ~ p.207
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Cytotoxic Effects of Tenebrio molitor Larval Extracts against Hepatocellular Carcinoma
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Lee Ji-Eun
Lee An-Jung
Jo Da-Eun
Cho Ju-Hyeong
Youn Kum-Ju
Yun Eun-Young
Hwang In-Yeong
Jun Mi-Ra
Kang Byoung-Heon
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Abstract
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Various natural products or their derivatives, mostly originating from plants, fungi, and bacteria, have been exploited as therapeutic drugs to treat various human diseases. In addition to previously explored organisms, research on natural compounds has now expanded into unexamined living organisms in order to identify novel bioactive substances. Here, we determined whether or not the larval form of the mealworm beetle Tenebrio molitor, a species of darkling beetle, contains cytotoxic substances that exclusively affect cancer cell viability. Ethanol extract and its solvent partitioned fractions, hexane and ethyl acetate fractions, showed anticancer effects against various human cancer cells derived from the prostate (PC3 and 22Rv1), cervix (HeLa), liver (PLC/PRF5, HepG2, Hep3B, and SK-HEP-1), colon (HCT116), lung (NCI-H460), breast (MDA-MB231), and ovary (SKOV3). Cell death induced by the fractions was a mix of apoptosis, necrosis, and autophagy. The hexane fraction was administered intraperitoneally to nude mice bearing a hepatocellular carcinoma SK-HEP-1 and showed inhibition of tumor growth in vivo. Therefore, we concluded that worm extracts contain cytotoxic substances, which can be enriched by proper fractionation protocols, and further separation and purification could lead to the identification of novel molecules to treat human cancers.
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KEYWORD
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Tenebrio molitor, anticancer activity, extract fractionation, hepatocellular carcinoma
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