Natural galactolipids from Crassocephalum rabens suppress skin inflammation and melanoma tumor
Crassocephalum rabens (Asteraceae) is a popular anti-inflammatory folk medicine and food supplement. This is the first study to provide scientific evidences for the anti-inflammatory and cancer chemopreventive functions of C. rabens extract and its major constituent compound (dLGG). Results obtained from in vitro and in vivo cell- and gene-based bioassays indicate that dLGG is a potent NO scavenger which can inhibit both iNOS and COX-2 activities at transcriptional and translational levels in murine macrophages as well as in mouse skin. A dLGG-enriched extract markedly suppressed B16 melanoma growth in C57BL/6J mice. This study demonstrates the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying the novel anti-inflammatory and tumor-suppressive effects of a natural galactolipid.Co-researchers:Chia-Chung Hou, Yi-Ping Chen, Jyh-Horng Wu, Chi-Chang Huang, Sheng-Yang Wang, Ning-Sun Yang, and Lie-Fen Shyur*