Abstract

The zinc finger of the cerebellum (ZIC1) is a tumor suppressor gene that is silenced through promoter hypermethylation in colorectal cancer. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of herbal medicines to demethylate the ZIC1 gene in colorectal cancer. We evaluated the effects of 30 herbal medicines on global DNA methylation, including the ZIC1 gene, in SW620 cells by a commercial DNA methylation assay. After the first round of screening, candidate herbal medicines were selected based on ZIC1 gene expression by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and methylation-specific PCR analysis. The efficacy of the selected candidate medicines on DNA demethylation was then determined by methylationspecific PCR analysis and pyrosequencing. Of the extracts evaluated, Vitex rotundifolia was associated with ZIC1 re-expression in SW620 cells. Of the herbal medicines studied, V. rotundifolia is the best candidate for the demethylation of ZIC1. Additional studies should be conducted to determine whether V. rotundifolia and other herbal medicines represent novel therapeutic avenues that can be utilized for the prevention or treatment of colorectal cancer. © 2013 The Korean Society of Toxicogenomics and Toxicoproteomics and Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Author keywords

Colorectal cancer; Epigenetic regulation; Vitex rotundifolia; ZIC1

Indexed keywords

EMTREE drug terms: cannabis; zinc finger protein

EMTREE medical terms: Alisma; Angelica; Artemisia; article; Celosia; Chrysanthemum; Cnidium; colorectal cancer; controlled study; Curcuma longa; Cynanchum; demethylation; DNA methylation; Eclipta; Ephedra sinica; gene; gentian; herbal medicine; human; human cell; Lonicera japonica; Luffa; Lycium chinense; Magnoliaceae; Morinda officinalis; Ophiopogon japonicus; pyrosequencing; reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; rice; Santalum album; Sinapis alba; Sophora; Tribulus terrestris; Trichosanthes; Tussilago; Verbenaceae; Vitex rotundifolia

Chemicals and CAS Registry Numbers: cannabis, 8001-45-4, 8063-14-7