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Journal of Clinical and Experimental Toxicology | Volume: 03 | ISSN: 2630-4570
allied
academies
November 04-05, 2019 | Prague, Czech Republic
2
nd
World Congress on
TOXICOLOGY AND APPLIED PHARMACOLOGY
Notes:
Cinnamon in Anti-Cancer Armamentarium: A molecular approach
Anindita Chakraborty
UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research, India
R
adiotherapy is a mainstay treatment for many types of
cancer, although it is still a large challenge to enhance
radiation damage to tumor tissues and reduce side effects
to healthy tissues. Radiosensitizers are promising agents
that enhance injury to tumor tissue by accelerating
DNA damage and producing free radicals. In this regard
various phyto-components are being tested to be used in
modulating radiation induced stress in the tumor cells. The
polyphenolic compounds from plant sources are known to
act as antioxidants in protecting cells from oxidative stress
and can also exhibit prooxidant activity, which contributes
to therapeutic functions attributed to flavonoids. This
biphasic behavior of these compounds depends on
concentration and free-radical source. Recent attention
has been focused on employing such natural substances
in combination therapy wherein administration of two
or more substances with other treatment modalities like
radiation or chemotherapy are being used to sensitize the
cancer cells toward treatment. Further, such combinations
may reinforce the drug effective concentration, intensify
the combined effect of both administered therapeutics,
exert cytotoxic effects specifically on tumor cells or
may also reduce the development of resistance of the
cancer cells by targeting multiple signaling pathways. In
this perspective, our group initiated a program to probe
into the efficacy of some selected active components of
cinnamon, a frequently used spice in Asian countries,
as a positive modulator of radiation induced damaging
effects on tumour cells. Cinnamon as a whole and /or its
active components exhibited significant antineoplastic
activity in different types of cancer. Presently we are
working to elicit the molecular mechanisms of action of
cinnamon and its components on oncogenic regulators
and related pathways. The anti-carcinogenic potential of
cinnamon varies with the type of cancer and also depends
on the administered active compound individually or
in combination with some chemical or even extract of
whole cinnamon. Presently, the in-vitro experimental
program reflected ethyl cinnamate (EC) to exert potent
radio sensitizing effects on radioresistant hepatocellular
carcinoma cells (HepG2). A combination of EC and
gamma-radiation showed increased ROS generation
and mitochondrial membrane depolarization. Similar
effects have been observed in phosphatidylserine
externalization studies, where this combination showed
potent apoptotic effects in hepatocellular carcinoma cells.
These outstanding properties of this spice necessitate
its incorporation in pharmaceuticals and/ nutraceuticals
to explore possibilities of formulation of novel drug for
treatment and prevention strategy of cancer.
Biography
Anindita Chakraborty, a Gold Medalist from University of Calcutta and
an awardee of prestigious national scholarships and fellowships has
completed her PhD from Jadavpur University, India. She is the Scientist–
in-Charge of Stress Biology Division of Kolkata Centre of UGC-DAE
Consortium for Scientific Research and has been working on cellular
stress and molecular mechanisms of stress response. Her focus is to
probe into effects of different stress factors on cellular dynamics with
special reference to oxidative stress and cell signalling cascades. Her
research unravels the link between failure to maintain homeostasis,
cellular aberration and organismal pathologies, through study of signal
transduction, cell cycle regulation, apoptosis, mitochondrial and/or
nuclear DNA damage and genomic instability. She is also working on non-
target effects of ionizing radiation highlighting cell signalling molecules
and pathways involved in radiation induced bystander effects, aiming
towards selective sensitization of tumour cells. Her contribution in the
field of Trace element Sciences through studying role of trace elements
in metabolomics to probe into elemental homeostasis and interaction
of macro/micro elements with biological functions also deserves
mention. She visited Australia, South America, China and several
countries of Europe as invited speaker in International Conferences and
delivered more than 20 seminar lectures and National and international
conferences. She has over 120 publications with 1,166 Citations and has
been serving as a reviewer for many reputed Journals.
e:
anindita.iuc@gmail.comAnindita Chakraborty, J Clin Exp Tox, Volume: 03
DOI: 10.35841/2630-4570-C2-008