Aug
12
Mon
2013
Invited Talk: Screening flavonoids for NF-kB inhibitory effect as potential breast cancer therapy @ Sathyam Hall
Aug 12 @ 11:00 am – 11:20 am

ayyappanAyyappan Nair, Ph.D.
Head, Business Development (Technologies, Discovery Biology), Anthem Biosciences & DavosPharma, New Jersey, USA


Inhibition of NF-κB regulated gene expression by chrysoeriol suppresses tumorigenesis in breast cancer cells

Amrutha K1, Pandurangan Nanjan1, Sanu K Shaji1, Damu Sunilkumar1, Subhalakshmi K1, Rashmi U Nair1, Lakshmi Rajakrishna2, Asoke Banerji1, Ayyappan Ramesh Nair1*,2

  1. School of Biotechnology, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritapuri Campus, Clappana P.O., Kollam – 690 525, Kerala, India
  2. Anthem Biosciences, No 49, Canara Bank Road, Bommasandra Industrial Area, Phase 1,  Hosur Road, Bangalore – 560 099, Karnataka, India

Abstract:  A large number of effective cancer-preventing compounds inhibit the activation of nuclear factor-κ B (NF-κB).  It has been previously demonstrated that some flavonoids that are a vital component of our diet inhibits this pathway. As a consequence, many flavonoids inhibit genes involved in various aspects of tumorigenesis and have thus emerged as potential chemopreventive candidates for cancer treatment. We studied the effect of 17 different flavonoids, including the highly evaluated quercetin on the NF-κB pathway, and on the expression of MMP-9 and COX-2 (two NF-κB regulated genes involved in metastasis) in the highly invasive human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231.  The findings suggest that not all the quercetin like flavone backbone compounds inhibit the NF-κB pathway, and that the highly hydoxylated flavonols quercetagetin and gossypetin did not inhibit this pathway, nor did it inhibit the expression of MMP-9 and COX-2.  This indicates a correlation between inhibition of NF-κB and subsequent suppression of these NF-κB regulated genes. Here, we also report the novel observation that the not so well characterized methoxylated flavone chrysoeriol inhibited the NF-κB pathway, and was most potent in reducing the expression of MMP-9 and COX-2.  Based on these observations, the cellular effects of chrysoeriol were evaluated in MDA-MB-231.  Chrysoeriol caused cell cycle arrest at G2/M, inhibited migration and invasion, and caused cell death of macrophages that contributed to migration of these cancer cells.  These effects of chrysoeriol make it a potential therapeutic candidate for breast cancer metastasis.

Ayyappan

 

Plenary Talk: Nano-biotechnology: Omega-3 Oils and Nanofibres @ Sathyam Hall
Aug 12 @ 1:30 pm – 2:05 pm

collinColin Barrow, Ph.D.
Chair in Biotechnology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Australia


Nano-biotechnology: Omega-3 Oils and Nanofibres

The health benefits of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids are well established, especially for eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosapentaenoic acid (DHA) from fish and microbial sources. In fact, a billion dollar market exists for these compounds as nutritional supplements, functional foods and pharmaceuticals. This presentation will describe some aspects of our omega-3 biotechnology research that are at the intersection of Nano-biotechnology and oil chemistry. These include the use of lipases for the concentration of omega-3 fats, through immobilization of these lipases on nanoparticles, and the microencapsulation and stabilization of omega-3 oils for functional foods. I will also describe some of our work on the enzymatic production of resolvins using lipoxygenases, and the fermentation of omega-3 oils from marine micro-organisms. Finally, I will describe some of our work on the formation of amyloid fibrils and graphene for various applications in nano-biotechnology.