Carcinogenesis Advance Access published online on June 15, 2005
Carcinogenesis, doi:10.1093/carcin/bgi154
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1 Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Huanglian (Coptidis rhizoma), a widely used herb in traditional Chinese medicine, has been shown recently to possess anticancer activities. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the anticancer effect of the herb is poorly understood. Specifically, whether huabglian extract affects the expression of cancer-related genes has not been defined. This study uses DNA microarray technology to examine the effect of the herbal extract on expression of the common genes involved in carcinogenesis in two human breast cancer cell lines, the ER-positive MCF-7 and ER-negative MDA-MB-231 cells. Treatment of the cancer cells with huanglian extract markedly inhibited their proliferation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The growth inhibitory effect was much more profound in MCF-7 cell line than that in MDA-MB-231 cells. DNA microarray assay revealed that treatment with huanglian dramatically increased the mRNA expression of interferon-
Received January 21, 2005
Revised May 22, 2005
Accepted June 7, 2005
MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY AND CANCER PREVENTION
The extract of huanglian, a medicinal herb, induces cell growth arrest and apoptosis by upregulation of interferon-
and TNF-
in human breast cancer cells
2 Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
Jing X. Kang, E-mail: Kang.jing{at}mgh.harvard.edu
Abstract 
(IFN-) and tumor necrosis factor-
(TNF-) in MCF-7 cells. Quantitative analysis by real-time PCR or Western blotting confirmed the up-regulation of the two genes (especially IFN-) in MCF-7 cells, but not in MDA- MB-231 cells. Addition of neutralizing antibody against IFN to culture medium markedly inhibited the huanglian-induced antiproliferative effect, confirming the involvement of IFN in the huanglian's effect and also suggesting an autocrine pathway for the action of IFN in this setting. Given that IFN is among the most important anti-cancer cytokines, the up-regulation of this gene by huanglian is, at least in part, responsible for its anti-proliferative effect. The results of this study implicate huanglian as a promising herb for chemoprevention and chemotherapy of certain cancers.
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