This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Breast cancer represents a major burden on the United States health care systems. More than 200,000 new cases and 40,000 breast cancer-related deaths are reported annually in the U.S. Global cancer incidence is projected to raise from 10.3 million cases in 1996 to 14.7 million in 2020. The good news is that between 30 40 % of all cases of cancer are preventable by feasible and appropriate diets, physical activity, and maintenance of appropriate body weight according to the 2005 expert report summary commissioned by World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR). Plants are considered excellent sources for the development of novel chemotherapies; this notion is strengthened by reports that approximately 25% of anticancer drugs trace their origins to plants. We have observed and reported that physiologically-relevant concentrations of native aqueous Vernonia amygdalina (VA) potently retarded the growth of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancerous cells in vitro. However, the effects of purified VA extracts is unknown. Hence, the objective of this activity is to further characterize the anticancer properties of the aqueous extracts of purified VA. The hypothesis that is been tested in this activity is that purified fraction(s) of VA extracts will retard the growth of human breast cancerous cells by attenuating ERKs activities in vivo.
Four specific aims have been formulated to test this hypothesis. Results: In addition to the single entity molecule named Edotide purified earlier from aqueous extracts of VA, we have (in collaboration with Dr. Ken Lee s lab) identified four new active fractions from ethylacetate extracts of VA. The four ethylacetate-derived fractions are being further characterized by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) followed by NMR for structure determination
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