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Abstract
Dexamethasone (Dex) is widely used in the management of leukemia and lymphoma. While Dex is commonly used for hematological malignancies, the effects of Dex in solid cancer cells remain controversial. To develop a more effective anticancer drug for solid cancers, Dex was modified by ionizing radiation and the anticancer activity of ionizing-radiation-irradiated Dex (Dex-IR) was investigated in human lung cancer cells. Using the MTT assay, the proliferation of non-small cell lung cancer cells was significantly inhibited after treatment with Dex-IR compared with Dex. Furthermore, Dex-IR induced apoptotic cell death and cell cycle arrest of H1650 human lung cancer cells. The invasiveness of H1650 cells was significantly reduced and the matrix metalloproteinase activity was strongly suppressed. These results indicate that Dex-IR acts as a tumor suppressor by both inducing apoptosis and arresting the cell cycle. Although the structure of Dex-IR remains to be determined, our results suggest it may be useful as a novel anticancer agent for the treatment of solid cancers.

Author information

Lee EH1,2, Park CH1, Choi HJ1, Kawala RA1,3, Bai HW1,3, Chung BY1.
1
Research Division for Biotechnology, Advanced Radiation Technology Institute (ARTI), Korea Atomic Energy Insitute (KAERI), 29 Geumgu-gil, Jeongeup-si, Jeollabuk-do, Republic of Korea.
2
Daegu-Gyeongbuk Medical Innovation Foundation, Medical Device Development Center, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
3
Radiation Biotechnology and Applied Radioisotope Science, University of Science and Technology (UST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea.