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Yen-Chou Chen

Bio: Yen-Chou Chen is an academic researcher from Taipei Medical University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Apoptosis & Caspase 3. The author has an hindex of 20, co-authored 29 publications receiving 1445 citations. Previous affiliations of Yen-Chou Chen include Taipei Medical University Hospital.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Induction of HO-1 protein may participate in the protective mechanism of QE on oxidative stress (H(2)O(2))-induced apoptosis, and reduction of intracellular ROS production and mitochondria dysfunction with blocking apoptotic events were involved.

224 citations

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TL;DR: Evidence is provided on the role of HO-1 in the inhibition of LPS-induced NO production by flavonoids by dose-dependent stimulation of flavonoid- and hemin-treated cells and enhanced their inhibitory effects on L PS-induced nitric oxide production and iNOS protein expression.

190 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Molecular evidence is provided to demonstrate that wogonin and fisetin had effective cytotoxic effects through apoptosis induction in hepatocellular carcinoma cells SK-HEP-1; activation of caspase 3 cascade, induction of p53 protein and alternative expression of p21Waf/Cip-1 protein were involved.
Abstract: Wogonin and fisetin are flavonoids, which are widely distributed in plants. Our recent study demonstrated that, among seven structurally related flavonoids, wogonin and fisetin showed the most potent apoptosis-inducing activities in human promyeloleukemic cells HL-60. In the present investigation, we performed molecular studies to assess the apoptotic effects of wogonin and fisetin on hepatocellular carcinoma cells SK-HEP-1. Both wogonin and fisetin showed dose-dependent cytotoxic effects on SK-HEP-1 cells, accompanied by DNA fragmentation. Microscopic observation under Giemsa staining showed that wogonin and fisetin, at the dose of 80 µM, induced cellular swelling and the appearance of apoptotic bodies, characteristics of apoptosis, in SK-HEP-1 cells. Furthermore, flow cytometry analysis showed an increase of hypodiploid cells in wogonin- and fisetin-treated SK-HEP-1 cells. These data demonstrated that wogonin and fisetin were effective inducers of apoptosis in SK-HEP-1 cells. Treatment with an apoptosis-inducing concentration of wogonin or fisetin caused induction of caspase 3/CPP32 activity, but not of caspase 1 activity. In addition, a caspase 3 inhibitor, Ac-DEVD-CHO, but not the caspase 1 inhibitor Ac-YVAD-CHO, reversed the cytotoxic effects of wogonin and fisetin on SK-HEP-1 cells. Further, cleavage of caspase 3 substrates including poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and D4-GDI protein, and decrease of pro-caspase 3 protein were detected in wogonin- and fisetin-treated SK-HEP-1 cells. Increase of p53 protein was associated with wogonin- and fisetin-induced apoptosis; however, a p53-controlled gene, p21Waf/Cip-1, was only induced in wogonin- (not fisetin-) treated SK-HEP-1 cells. Serum starvation elevated p21Waf/Cip-1 protein expression, and enhanced the apoptotic induction activity of wogonin (not fiseitn) in SK-HEP-1 cells. Our study has provided molecular evidence to demonstrate that wogonin and fisetin had effective cytotoxic effects through apoptosis induction in hepatocellular carcinoma cells SK-HEP-1; activation of caspase 3 cascade, induction of p53 protein and alternative expression of p21Waf/Cip-1 protein were involved.

163 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Data from the pharmacological studies using specific chemical inhibitors showed that activation of protein kinase C and extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) was involved in TPA-induced migration/invasion, COX-2 protein expression, and MMP-9 activation.

94 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is suggested that 33 kDa TI, one of the sweet potato root storage proteins, may play a role as an antioxidant in roots and may be beneficial to health when it is consumed.
Abstract: Trypsin inhibitors (TIs), root storage proteins, were purified from sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas[L.] Lam cv. Tainong 57) roots by trypsin affinity column according to the methods of Hou and Lin (Plant Sci. 1997, 126, 11-19 and Plant Sci. 1997, 128, 151-158). A single band of 33 kDa TI was obtained by preparative sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) gels. This purified 33 kDa TI had scavenging activity against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical. There was positive correlation between scavenging effects against DPPH (2 to 22%) and amounts of 33 kDa TI (1.92 to 46 pmol). The scavenging activities of 33 kDa TI against DPPH were calculated from linear regression to be about one-third of those of glutathione between 5 and 80 pmol. Using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometry for hydroxyl radical detection, it was found that 33 kDa TI could capture hydroxyl radical, and the intensities of EPR signal were significantly decreased from 1.5 to 6 pmol of 33 kDa TI compared to those of the controls. It is suggested that 33 kDa TI, one of the sweet potato root storage proteins, may play a role as an antioxidant in roots and may be beneficial to health when it is consumed.

86 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Findings suggest that, at least in part, the encountered beneficial effects of essential oils are due to prooxidant effects on the cellular level.

6,174 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Curcumin, a spice once relegated to the kitchen shelf, has moved into the clinic and may prove to be "Curecumin", a therapeutic agent in wound healing, diabetes, Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, and arthritis.

1,897 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The distribution of ka Kempferol in the plant kingdom and its pharmacological properties are reviewed and the pharmacokinetics and safety of kaempferol are analyzed to help understand the health benefits of kaEMPferol-containing plants and to develop this flavonoid as a possible agent for the prevention and treatment of some diseases.
Abstract: Epidemiological studies have revealed that a diet rich in plant-derived foods has a protective effect on human health. Identifying bioactive dietary constituents is an active area of scientific investigation that may lead to new drug discovery. Kaempferol (3,5,7-trihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one) is a flavonoid found in many edible plants (e.g. tea, broccoli, cabbage, kale, beans, endive, leek, tomato, strawberries and grapes) and in plants or botanical products commonly used in traditional medicine (e.g. Ginkgo biloba, Tilia spp, Equisetum spp, Moringa oleifera, Sophora japonica and propolis). Some epidemiological studies have found a positive association between the consumption of foods containing kaempferol and a reduced risk of developing several disorders such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Numerous preclinical studies have shown that kaempferol and some glycosides of kaempferol have a wide range of pharmacological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticancer, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, antidiabetic, anti-osteoporotic, estrogenic/antiestrogenic, anxiolytic, analgesic and antiallergic activities. In this article, the distribution of kaempferol in the plant kingdom and its pharmacological properties are reviewed. The pharmacokinetics (e.g. oral bioavailability, metabolism, plasma levels) and safety of kaempferol are also analyzed. This information may help understand the health benefits of kaempferol-containing plants and may contribute to develop this flavonoid as a possible agent for the prevention and treatment of some diseases.

987 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review is aimed to summarize the research results obtained since the last 20 years and to highlight the recently discovered molecular mechanisms of Scutellaria baicalensis.

747 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review focuses on the current understanding of the tumor promoting and the tumor suppressive functions of ROS, and highlights the potential mechanism(s) involved, and sheds light on a very novel and an actively growing field of ROS‐dependent cell death mechanism referred to as ferroptosis.

666 citations