Mohamed M. Rafi,1 Saravanan Kanakasabai,2 Sarita V. Gokarn,1
Eric G. Krueger,2 and John J. Bright2,3
1 Department of Food Science, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers,
The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.
2 Neuroscience Research Laboratory, Methodist Research Institute, Indiana University Health, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
3 Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
ABSTRACT
Lutein is a carotenoid pigment present in fruits and vegetables that has anti-inflammatory and antitumor properties. In this study, we examined the effect of lutein on proliferation and survival-associated genes in prostate cancer (PC-3) cells. We found that in vitro culture of PC-3 cells with lutein induced mild decrease in proliferation that improved in combination treatment with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARc) agonists and other chemotherapeutic agents. Flow cytometry analyses showed that lutein improved drug-induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in prostate cancer. Gene array and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analyses showed that lutein altered the expression of growth and apoptosis-associated biomarker genes in PC-3 cells. These findings highlight that lutein modulates the expression of growth and survival-associated genes in prostate cancer cells.
KEY WORDS: cancer prevention carotenoids lutein PC-3 cells prostate cancer.
For Introduction Check PDF