Abstract
The zinc finger of the cerebellum (ZIC1) is a tumor suppressor gene that is silenced through promoter hypermethylation in colorectal cancer. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of herbal medicines to demethylate the ZIC1 gene in colorectal cancer. We evaluated the effects of 30 herbal medicines on global DNA methylation, including the ZIC1 gene, in SW620 cells by a commercial DNA methylation assay. After the first round of screening, candidate herbal medicines were selected based on ZIC1 gene expression by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and methylation-specific PCR analysis. The efficacy of the selected candidate medicines on DNA demethylation was then determined by methylationspecific PCR analysis and pyrosequencing. Of the extracts evaluated, Vitex rotundifolia was associated with ZIC1 re-expression in SW620 cells. Of the herbal medicines studied, V. rotundifolia is the best candidate for the demethylation of ZIC1. Additional studies should be conducted to determine whether V. rotundifolia and other herbal medicines represent novel therapeutic avenues that can be utilized for the prevention or treatment of colorectal cancer.
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Sohn, SH., Cho, K. & Bae, H. Screening for herbal medicines that affect ZIC1 gene methylation in colorectal cancer. Mol. Cell. Toxicol. 9, 211–218 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13273-013-0027-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13273-013-0027-y