Open AccessFermentation Product of Soybean, Black Bean, and Green Bean Mixture Induces Apoptosis in a Wide Variety of Cancer Cells
Author(s) -
JeanSan Chia,
Jia-Ling Du,
Ming-Shiou Wu,
WeiBin Hsu,
Chun-Pin Chiang,
Aihua Sun,
Ja-Yu Lu,
WonBo Wang
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
integrative cancer therapies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.73
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1552-695X
pISSN - 1534-7354
DOI - 10.1177/1534735412458828
Subject(s) - syngenic , apoptosis , cancer cell , cancer , cancer research , endoplasmic reticulum , prostate cancer , biology , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , in vitro , genetics
Previous studies have shown that soybean fermentation products can act as cancer chemoprevention or therapeutic agents. In this study, the anticancer activities of a fermentation product of soybean, black bean, and green bean mixture (BN999) were investigated. We found that BN999 inhibited the growth of human breast cancer AU565 cells and prostate adenocarcinoma PC-3 cells but not that of normal human cells. BN999 induced apoptosis in various human cancer cells but not in normal human cells. BN999 treatment of AU565 cancer cells resulted in activation of calpain and caspase-8, -9, and -3, suggesting that BN999 induces apoptosis via receptor-, mitochondria-, and endoplasmic reticulum–mediated pathways. Finally, we showed that BN999 inhibited the growth of mouse CT-26 colon cancer xenografts in syngenic BALB/c mice without causing obvious side effects. Together, these data suggest that BN999 has potential to be used as a cancer chemoprevention or therapeutic agent.