Stichopus japonicus Suppresses Inflammatory and Cancer Progression by Promoting ROS-Mediated Inhibition of MAPK Signaling.

Abstract

Background : Sea cucmbers are used in formulation of traditional medicine in east asia and it was known that it exhibits different activities depending on the habitat. Therefore, in this study, we confirmed the anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effect of red sea cucumber (Stichopus japonicus) from Jeju Island. Methods : We obtained a vacuum dried S. japonicas extracts by treatment with MeOH (VD-M) or MeOH/DCM (2:1) (VD-D). VD-M and VD-D used experiment to ROS generation and protein expression. Result : Both extractions showed inhibition of NO production without toxicity. And VD-M and VD-D significantly inhibited PGE2, protein level of iNOS and COX-2 as well as pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α. VD-M and VD-D suppressed the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway molecules such as ERK, JNK, and p38 also reduced ROS generation. Our results demonstrated that S. japonicas extracts using different extraction methods presented anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting MAPKs and ROS generation. VD-M showed inhibition of tumor cell growth and induced increased ROS generation which is associated with the induction of apoptosis though mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway in murine colon carcinoma cells (CT-26). The combination of VD-M and N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a ROS scavenger, increased ROS production and apoptosis compare with non-treated group via regulation MA