Indole-3-carbinol augments IFN responsiveness in breast tumor cells.

2004 SEP 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Indole-3-carbinol (I3C) augments IFNgammaR1 gene expression and interferon responsiveness in breast tumor cells.

I3C, "a naturally occurring compound of Brassica vegetables, has promising anticancer properties and activates an anti-proliferative pathway that induces a G[subscript]1 cell cycle arrest of human breast cancer cells," scientists in the United States explained.

"A microarray analysis of I3C treated versus untreated MCF-7 breast cancer cells," conducted by U. Chatterji and colleagues at the University of California-Berkeley, "revealed that I3C increased expression of the interferon gamma receptor 1 (IFNgammaR1)."

"Western blot and RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that I3C strongly and rapidly stimulated IFNgammaR1 gene expression," the collaborators said. "Transfection of a series of 5' deletion constructs of the IFNgammaR1 reporter plasmids revealed that I3C significantly stimulates the promoter

activity of the IFNgammaR1 and uncovered an I3C-responsive region between -540 and -240 bp of the IFNgammaR1 promoter."

"I3C stimulation of the IFNgammaR1 expression suggests that indole treatment should enhance IFNgamma responsiveness in breast cancer cells," according to the report. "A combination of I3C and IFNgamma synergistically activated STAT1 proteins by increasing phosphorylation at the Tyr-701 site."

"In ...