Flavin7 is able to diminish kidney tumor growth.
Kidney cancers are one of the most important cancers, due in part to the large economic burden of metastatic kidney cancer, which has been estimated to be $1.6 billion (2006 USD) in selected countries and to globally account for more than 131,000 deaths and 342,000 incident cases each year. The etiology of kidney cancer is mainly unknown, but appears to be multifactorial in nature. A number of different risk factors have been studied, some of which are modifiable, thus creating an opportunity for primary prevention. The risk factors for kidney cancer have been categorized as: (a) life style risk factors—tobacco smoking, excess body weight, alcohol consumption, physical activity and diet; (b) medical history—hypertension, chronic kidney diseases, kidney stones, and diabetes mellitus; (c) environmental and occupational exposures—trichloroethylene and aristolochic acid; (d) genetic risk factors and others. The attributable burden of these risk factors have not been reported in previous research, although this information is very helpful in the development and prioritization of prevention programs.
There has been little or no improvement in the burden of kidney cancer over the last 28 years. Our study provides much needed information about the burden of kidney cancer in each country, to enable countries to better plan to address their burden and to allocate their limited resources more appropriately. Our results highlight the need for renewed efforts to reduce exposure to risk factors and to improve the prevention and early detection of this disease.
About the ERK signaling pathway: ERK-The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade is a major signaling system by which cells transduce extracellular signals into intracellular responses. Many steps of this cascade are conserved, and homologs have been discovered in different species. The first three mammalian MAP kinases, ERK1, ERK2 and ERK3 were cloned in the early 1990s, facilitating the development of reagents for their study. It has become clear that ERK1 and ERK2 are among the protein kinases most commonly activated in signal transduction pathways. They have particularly been linked to cell proliferation, but have important roles in many other events. In mammalian cells, ERK1 and ERK2, often referred to as p44 and p42 MAP kinases, are the archetypal members of the MAPK family. Therefore, determining the possible role of MAPKs in cancer cells may offer a promising way for treatment and prognosis of cancerous diseases. According to recent results, activation of the ERK pathway is a frequent event in tumorigenesis. ERK has been implicated in cell initiation, tumor promotion and progression, invasion, metastasis, and regulation of apoptosis and angiogenesis, events that are essential for successful completion of developing a metastatic tumor. On the other hand, ERK activation is not unambiguously an advantage or a disadvantage for patients with cancerous diseases, since it has been shown to trigger cell proliferation and survival in normal cells, as well as in tumor cells.
The immortalized mouse kidney (proximal tubule) cells were treated with 50 µl, 100 µl, 200 µl, 300 µl and 500 µl Flavin7. The cell survival and FACS analysis showed that 200 µl, 300 µl and 500 µl Flavin7 significantly reduced the number of cells in the culture, while there were no changes in the control (non treated) cell culture.
Result: Our data suggest that Flavin7 (F7), being a flavonoid-rich solution, possesses a protein kinase inhibitor activity that might be responsible for the observed inhibition of MEK and ERK phosphorylation in TKPTS cells (Figures 3 and 4). Whether F7 directly acts on MEK or on its upstream kinase(s) needs further investigation. Our data also showed that inhibition of ERK phosphorylation resulted in inhibition of its downstream function such as Elk1 or CREB activation (Figure 2).
Study: „Effect of a Plant-derived Natural Compound, Flavin7, on the ERK Signaling Pathway in Immortalized Mouse Proximal Tubule Cells” (PMID: 18019427), In Vivo 21: 871-876 (2007)
Edit Nádasi1,2, István Ember2 and István Arany1
1 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and
Central Arkansas Veteran HealthCare System, Little Rock, AR 72205, U.S.A.;
