Page 130 - D. Cancer biology
P. 130
[D. Cancer biology-81]
Anti-tumor Effects of Persimmon Leaves(Diospyros kaki)
Extract via PDGFR-Rac-JNKs pathway
Heon-Su Kim¹, Jung-Soo Suh¹, Yoon-Kwan Jang¹, Sang-Hyun Ahn¹, Ganesan Raja², Tae-Jin Kim¹˙²˙*
¹Department of Integrated Biological Science, Pusan National University, Pusan 46241, Korea(Republic of),
²Department of Biological Sciences, Pusan National University, Pusan 46241, Korea(Republic of)
The persimmon leaves are well known for potential beneficial effects, including ROS elimination, lipid circulation,
neuronal protection. However, their biological and/or biochemical pathways are not well understood at the cellular
level. Herein, we found that a high concentration of ethanol extract of Diospyros kaki (EEDK) treatment can cause
cancer cell death, and inhibit cell proliferation. In particular, HepG2 (hepatocellular carcinoma cell line) is more
vulnerable to EEDK administration than HEK293 (human embryonic kidney cell line). Using fluorescence resonance
energy transfer (FRET) technology, we first observed that EEDK stimulates PDGFR-Rac signaling cascade in living
cells. It was further revealed that JNKs, downstream of PDGFR-Rac pathway, was activated by EEDK. In contrast,
JNK-downstream inhibitors, such as CoCl2, T-5224 and Pepstatin A, attenuated the EEDK-inducing cell death. Thus,
our results indicate that PDGFR-Rac-JNK signaling triggered by EEDK leads to cancer cell death, suggesting the
persimmon leaves could be a promising anti-tumor agent.
