Teucrium polium plant extract provokes significant cell death in human lung cancer cells

Lung cancer is the first common malignancy worldwide;in view of the limited success of available treatment modalities for this cancer, alternative and complementary strategies need to be developed. On the other hand, Teucrium polium (TP) is a medicinal plant that has been used for more than two thousand years for treating many diseases such as abdominal pain, indigestion and diabetes in the Middle East. However, the effect of TP plant extract on hu-man non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not been investigated yet. In this study, we exam-ined the effects of TP extract on cell prolifera-tion, cell cycle progression and cell death in H322 and A549 lung cell lines. Our results show that TP plant extract inhibits cell proliferation and deregulates cell cycle progression. More importantly, TP plant extract causes a dramatic cell death in both cell lines in comparison with untreated cells. Our data suggest that this plant extract could have an important therapeutic role in the treatment of human NSCLC.

Comment on "p38 MAPK inhibition alleviates experimental acute pancreatitis in mice"

To the Editor：I read with great interest the article by Cao et al[1] re- porting a potential therapeutic utility of p38 inhibitors for acute pancreatitis. Using a preclinical mouse model where acute pancreatitis was induced by administra- tion of cerulein （a cholecystokinin analog derived from the tree frog Litoria caerulea）, the authors reported that the p38 MAPK inhibitor SB203580, administered intra- peritoneally before and after the first administration of cerulein, relieved signs associated with acute pancreatitis, including decreased HSP60 and HSP70 expression, and serum IL-6, amylase and lipase activities. Although the study remains descriptive and pharmacodynamic aspects were not examined in depth, it still has a merit as it undoubtedly provides a basis for further investigation into the potential utility of targeting p38 signaling for acute pancreatitis, a common serious condition that can be life-threatening.

New insights into the role of intra-tumor genetic heterogeneity in carcinogenesis: identification of complex single gene variance within tumors

Aim:Present cancer hypotheses are almost all based on the concept that accumulation of specific driver gene mutations cause carcinogenesis.The discovery of intra-tumor genetic heterogeneity(ITGH),has resulted in this hypothesis being modified by assuming that most of these ITGH mutations are in passenger genes.In addition,accumulating ITGH data on driver gene mutations have revealed considerable genotype/phenotype disconnects.This study proposes to investigate this disconnect by examining the nature and degree of ITGH in breast tumors.Methods:ITGH was examined in tumors using next generation sequencing of up to 68,000 reads and analysis tools that allowed for identification of distinct minority variants within single genes,i.e.,complex single gene variance(CSGV).Results:CSGV was identified in the androgen receptor genes in all breast tumors examined.Conclusion:Evidence of CSGV suggests that a selection-as opposed to a mutation-centric hypothesis could better explain carcinogenesis.Our hypothesis proposes that tumors develop by the selection of preexisting de novo mutations rather than just the accumulation of de novo mutations.Thus,the role of selection pressures,such as changes in tissue microenvironments will likely be critical to our understanding of tumor resistance as well as the development of more effective treatment protocols.