An essential amino acid (isoleucin) induces epithelial beta -defensin ...2000
Murata K, Moriyama M. Isoleucine, an essential amino acid, prevents liver metastases of colon cancer by antiangiogenesis. Cancer Res. 2007 Apr 1;67(7):3263
In spite of recent advances in the treatment of colon cancer, multiple liver metastases of colon cancer are still difficult to treat. Some chemotherapeutic regimens have been reported to be efficient, but there is a high risk of side effects associated with these. Here, we show that isoleucine, an essential amino acid, prevents liver metastases in a mouse colon cancer metastatic model. Because isoleucine is a strong inducer of beta-defensin, we first hypothesized that it prevented liver metastases via the accumulation of dendritic cells or memory T cells through up-regulation of beta-defensin. However, neither beta-defensin nor immunologic responses were induced by isoleucine in both mouse livers and spleens. Furthermore, isoleucine prevented liver metastasis in nude mice, which lack T cells and natural killer T cells. Finally, we discovered a novel mechanism of isoleucine: down-regulation of angiogenesis via inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor, partially through the mammalian target of the rapamycin pathway, independent of hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha. Importantly, isoleucine is safe for administration to humans because it does not affect cell viability. Isoleucine could be a novel prophylactic drug for the prevention of liver metastases of colon cancer.
Immunocytochemical localization of lysozyme and beta-defensin in the apocrine glands of the equine scrotum. 2007
New types of clotting factors and defense molecules found in horseshoe crab hemolymph: their structures and functions. 1998
The novel beta-defensin DEFB123 prevents lipopolysaccharide-mediated effects in vitro and in vivo (with high Trp) 2006
