The risks and benefits of diets and supplements containing the estrogenic soy isoflavone genistein are not well established. We report that 10 nm genistein potently induces the granzyme B inhibitor, proteinase inhibitor 9 (PI-9) in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. By inducing PI-9, genistein inhibits the ability of human natural killer (NK) cells to lyse the target breast cancer cells. In ERalp...

Genistein, an isoflavonoid present in soybeans, exhibits anti-carcinogenic effects. Several studies have shown that genistein inhibits cell proliferation and triggers apoptosis in human breast cancer cells. In this study, we assessed the role of the MEK-ERK cascade in the regulation of genistein-mediated cell apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 cells. The results indicate that genistein, in a concentration...

Epidemiological evidence suggests that soy consumption is associated with a decreased risk of prostate cancer. The isoflavone genistein is found at high levels in soy and a large body of evidence suggests it is important in mediating the cancer preventive effects of soy. The mechanisms through which genistein acts in prostate cancer cells have not been fully defined. We used gene expression pro...

Genistein is a phytoestrogen contained at high levels in soy products and has been shown to regulate immunoresponse. In this study, we evaluated the effects of genistein on the production of cytokines from antigen (Ag)-specific T cells using DO11.10 transgenic mice because the direct effect of genistein on Ag-specific cytokine production has not been elucidated. The oral administration of 20 mg...

To further investigate the effect of a combination of genistein with survivin of RNA interference on the proliferation and apoptosis of DU-145 cells, the effect of genistein on the proliferation of DU-145 cells was detected by the MTT method and cytometry, and the apoptosis of cells was observed with fluorescence microscopy. In order to test combined genistein with transfection of small interfe...

The inhibitory activity of 3 soy isoflavones (daidzein, genistein and glycitein) and their glycosides (daidzin, genistin and glycitin) on mammalian DNA polymerases (pols) and topoisomerases (topos) was investigated. Of the compounds tested, only genistein selectively inhibited human topo II activity and had an IC50 value of 37.5 µM. These isoflavones had no effect on the activity of human topo ...

Genistein, the major isoflavone in soybean, was recently reported to exert beneficial effects in metabolic disorders and inflammatory diseases. In the present study, we investigated the effects and mechanisms of a dietary concentration of genistein on the inflammatory response in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated RAW 264.7 macrophages. Our results demonstrated that genistein effectively inhibite...

BRCA1 acts as a tumour suppressor and germ-line mutations within this gene are found in a large proportion of families with breast cancer. The aim of our study was to unravel the mechanism of action of genistein, the major soy phytoestrogen, in BRCA1-mutant human breast cancer cell lines. Four breast cancer cell lines were studied for their response to genistein, three of them harbouring differ...

Genistein, the most abundant isoflavone present in soybean has antiproliferative effects on a variety of cancer cells, including prostate cancer. However, the molecular mechanism of antiproliferative effects of genistein is not entirely understood. Because the activation of telomerase is crucial for cells to gain immortality and proliferation ability, we examined the role of genistein in the re...

OBJECTIVE We have shown previously that pretreatment with genistein potentiated cell killing induced by radiation in human PC-3 prostate carcinoma cell line in vitro. We tested this approach in vivo using an orthotopic prostate carcinoma model of PC-3 cells in nude mice. METHODS Established prostate tumors were pretreated with p.o. genistein at a dose of 5 mg/d for 2 days followed by tumor ir...