The amount of soy products consumed in Japan is much greater than that in Western countries. Recent evidence indicates that soy isoflavones play a beneficial role in obesity, cancer, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease. The soybean isoflavone genistein is present at high levels in soy products. Genistein is structurally similar to 17beta-estradiol (E2), and genistein has been suggested to ...

In the present report, we studied if an isoflavone, genistein, enhances the nerve growth factor (NGF)-induced neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells. Application of genistein enhanced the NGF-induced neurite outgrowth. Knockdown of Na+/K+/2Cl- cotransporter isoform 1 (NKCC1) abolished the stimulatory effect of genistein on the neurite outgrowth. These observations indicate that NKCC1 is essential for ...

The basis for the differential sensitivity of cultured normal human mammary epithelial (HME) cells and a transformed human breast cancer MCF-7 cell line to growth inhibition by the isoflavone genistein and its 4'-methyl ether derivative, biochanin A, was examined. In HME cells genistein is 5-fold more potent as a growth inhibitor than biochanin A, whereas in MCF-7 cells biochanin A and genistei...

BACKGROUND Although the immunologic effects of endogenous and synthetic estrogens are well studied, few studies have examined the hormonal effects of phytoestrogens (i.e., plant-derived estrogens) on the immune system. The primary goal of this study was to compare the effects of perinatal exposure with life-long exposure to genistein, an estrogenic compound in soy, on the endocrine and immune s...

Genistein, a major phytoestrogen of soy, is considered a potential drug for the prevention and treatment of post-menopausal osteoporosis. Mounting evidence suggested a positive correlation between genistein consumption and bone health both in vivo and in vitro. Earlier studies have revealed that genistein acted as a natural estrogen analogue which activated estrogen receptor and exerted anti-os...

The protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor, genistein, has been reported to inhibit proliferation and to induce cell death in various non-solid and solid cancer cell lines. Herein, we examined the effects of genistein in several human malignant glioma cell lines. We found that genistein inhibited the proliferation of LN-18, LNT-229, LN-308 and T98G cells at EC50 concentrations of 25-80 microM (72 h ...

Genistein is one of the most studied isoflavonoids with potential antitumor efficacy, but its poor water solubility limits its clinical application. Nanoparticles (NPs), especially biodegradable NPs, entrapping hydrophobic drugs have promising applications to improve the water solubility of hydrophobic drugs. In this work, TPGS-b-PCL copolymer was synthesized from ε-caprolactone initiated by d-...

BACKGROUND Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) has become a widely used model to explore the effect of food constituents on health as well as on life-span extension. The results imply that besides essential nutrients several flavonoids are able to impact the aging process. What is less investigated is the bioavailability and biotransformation of these compounds in C. elegans. In the present stu...

In the presence of ATP, genistein, like the ATP analogue adenosine 5'-[beta,gamma-imido]triphosphate (pp[NH]pA), increases cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) chloride currents by prolonging open times. As pp[NH]pA is thought to increase CFTR currents by interfering with ATP hydrolysis at the second nucleotide-binding fold (NBF-2), the present study was undertaken to inve...

The molecular mechanisms of genistein-induced apoptosis of human breast cancer MCF-7 cells were investigated. Genistein showed 50% cell growth inhibition at IC50=27.5+/-0.8 micromol/l in 24 h incubation under 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay conditions. Genistein is known to express both cell growth activity at nanomolar concentrations and anti-cell growth act...