Journal of medicinal food
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Journal of medicinal food · Apr 2012
Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) extract suppresses adrenocortical cancer cell proliferation through modulation of the apoptotic pathway, steroidogenesis, and insulin-like growth factor type 1 receptor/RAC-α serine/threonine-protein kinase signaling.
Adrenocortical carcinomas are rare but present with extremely poor prognosis. One of the approaches to control cancer progression and reduce cancer risk is prevention through diet. Bitter melon is widely consumed as a vegetable and especially as a traditional medicine in many countries. ⋯ BME treatment decreased the level of phosphorylation of cyclin-dependent kinase 7, which is required, at least in part, for steroidogenic factor 1 activation. Finally, we observed that BME treatment significantly reduced the level of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor and its downstream signaling pathway as evidenced by lower levels of phosphorylated RAC-α serine/threonine-protein kinase. Taken together, these data illustrate the inhibitory effect of bitter melon on cell proliferation of adrenocortical cancer through modulation of diverse mechanisms.