Oleocanthal exerts antitumor effects on human liver and colon cancer cells through ROS generation
The beneficial health properties of the Mediterranean diet are well recognized. The principle source of fat in Mediterranean diet is extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO). Oleocanthal (OC) is a naturally occurring minor phenolic compound isolated from EVOO, which has shown a potent anti-inflammatory activity, by means of its ability to inhibit the cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes COX-1 and COX-2. A large body of evidence indicates that phenols exhibit anticancer activities. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the potential anticancer effects of OC in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and colorectal carcinoma (CRC) models. A panel of human HCC (HepG2, Huh7, Hep3B and PLC/PRF/5) and CRC (HT29, SW48…
Targeting HSP90 with the small molecule inhibitor AUY922 (luminespib) as a treatment strategy against hepatocellular carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly malignant tumor that responds very poorly to existing therapies, most probably due to its extraordinary inter- and intra-tumor molecular heterogeneity. The modest therapeutic response to molecular targeted agents underlines the need for new therapeutic approaches for HCC. In our study, we took advantage of well-characterized human HCC cell lines, differing in transcriptomic subtypes, DNA mutation and amplification alterations, reflecting the heterogeneity of primary HCCs, to provide a preclinical evaluation of the specific heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) inhibitor AUY922 (luminespib). Indeed, HSP90 is highly expressed in different tumor types, but it…