New efficacy of red ginseng: inhibits metastasis of lung cancer

- Development of red ginseng material that increases trace amounts of Rk1 and Rg5 using microwave processing
- Ginsenoside Rk1 and Rg5 effectively block metastasis from lung cancer

Red ginseng, which has been used as an important herbal medicine in oriental medicine since ancient times, has recently been attracting attention as a health functional material. Red ginseng has the characteristic of its ingredients and efficacy changing depending on various processing methods, and research on this is actively being conducted. In the meantime, domestic researchers have drawn attention by discovering that red ginseng has the efficacy of inhibiting the metastasis of lung cancer.

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President Seok-Jin Yoon) announced that the team led by Dr. Jeong-Yeop Ham of the Natural Products Research Center at the Gangneung Branch Natural Products Research Institute and Dr. Hyeon-Seok Koh of Asan Medical Center in Seoul have confirmed through joint research that Rk1 and Rg5, which are components contained in red ginseng (ginsenoside: a type of compound chemically called glycoside in ginseng, meaning ginseng glycoside, is called 'ginsenoside'. Ginsenoside) effectively suppress the metastasis of lung cancer. Dr. Jeong-Yeop Ham of KIST said that the 9-steaming and 9-po processing method: a herbal medicine processing method that steams and dries nine times increases the absorption of effective ingredients and reduces the toxicity of plants. Unlike existing red ginseng processing methods such as the 9-stage 9-stage processing method, the microwave processing method, which is based on the same principle as a microwave oven, was developed to increase the main active ingredients of red ginseng, Rg3, Rk1, and Rg5, by more than 20 times compared to the existing method. The research team has been continuously studying the efficacy of KMxG, a red ginseng manufactured through the microwave processing method, and has found that it has a protective effect on kidneys damaged by drugs and is effective in treating prostate cancer, cervical cancer, and skin cancer. This technology was transferred to Ponin Bio Co., Ltd. in 2020 for a total technology fee of 800 million won and is currently preparing for commercialization.

Unlike normal cells, cancer cells do not die easily when they fall off from their original tissue, but rather move to other tissues and grow again. Cytokines used as signaling substances in the body: Low-molecular-weight proteins secreted by cells that promote or suppress cell proliferation and differentiation, and are also involved in inflammation, hematopoiesis, cancer growth, and metastasis.

‘TGF-β1’, a type of cytokine protein, is known to induce metastasis of lung cancer through the above phenomenon and stem cell transformation of cancer cells. The KIST research team treated lung cancer cells with Rk1 and Rg5 components, which are abundant in KMxG red ginseng, simultaneously with ‘TGF-β1’, and confirmed that both components effectively suppressed various lung cancer cell migration, invasion, and resistance to anoikis, apoptosis of non-attached cells, which is a process of cancer metastasis caused by TGF-β1.

Dr. Ham Jeong-yeop of KIST said, “It is known that red ginseng components kill cancer cells, but this study proved that it can also suppress cancer metastasis and enhance the anticancer effect related to lung cancer, providing scientific evidence that can lead to the development of natural product-derived anticancer agents in the future.” He added, “KMxG, developed using a microwave manufacturing method, can control the content of red ginseng active ingredients depending on the processing conditions, allowing the development of customized functional materials for various diseases.”

This study was conducted with the support of the Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Choi Ki-young) as a KIST major project and the Nano Convergence Industry Core Technology Development Project of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Minister Sung Yun-mo). The results of the study were published in the latest issue of the Journal of Ginseng Research (top 1.786% in JCR), an international academic journal in the field of ginseng research. * (Paper title) Ginsenosides Rk1 and Rg5 inhibit transforming growth factor-β1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition and suppress migration, invasion, anoikis resistance, and development of stem-like features in lung cancer
- (First author) Hyunhee Kim, PhD candidate, Asan Medical Center
- (First author) Pilju Choi, Postdoctoral Researcher, Korea Institute of Science and Technology
- (Corresponding author) Hyunseok Koh, PhD, Asan Medical Center (Current, HLB Life Science Co., Ltd.)
- (Corresponding author) Jeongyeop Ham, Principal Researcher, Korea Institute of Science and Technology

<Figure caption>

KMxG red ginseng manufactured by microwave processing



[Figure 1] KMxG red ginseng manufactured by microwave processing

Changes in KMxG-containing ginsenosides by microwave processing of ginseng



[Figure 2] Changes in KMxG-containing ginsenosides by microwave processing of ginseng

Ginsenoside Schematic diagram of lung cancer metastasis inhibition by Rk1 and Rg5



[Figure 3] Schematic diagram of lung cancer metastasis inhibition by ginsenosides Rk1 and Rg5

 

Original Source

https://www.kist.re.kr/ko/research/resource-data-recent-research.do?mode=view&articleNo=7438&title=%ED%99%8D%EC%82%BC%EC%9D%98+%EC%83%88%EB%A1%9C%EC%9A%B4+%ED%9A%A8%EB%8A%A5%2C+%ED%8F%90%EC%95%94%EC%9D%98+%EC%A0%84%EC%9D%B4+%EC%96%B5%EC%A0%9C%ED%95%9C%EB%8B%A4

 

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