Breast Cancer Prevention by a Soybean Protein
Abstract
The goal of this project is to develop Bowman-Birk protease inhibitor (BBI), a soybean polypeptide, as a chemopreventive agent for breast cancer. In order to achieve this goal, we proposed the following two specific aims in our original application: (1) using an in vitro mammary gland culture system to demonstrate the anti-transformation activity of both BBI and its palmitic acid conjugate (Pal-BBI), and (2) (using a mouse model to demonstrate the advantages of Pal-BBI in oral delivery of BBI. During the past year, we have made three critical findings that are consistent with our hypotheses. First, we found for the first time that BBI can prevent the transformation of mammary glands induced by the treatment of a chemical carcinogen, 7,12-dimethylbenAanthracene (DMBA). A 66% decrease of transformation incidence was observed in the presence of 20 micrngrams/ml of BBI in the transformation assay medium. Secondly, we found that Pal-BBI was at least as effective as BBI in the chemopreventive assay. Thirdly, we found that Pal-BBI is significantly more stable than BBI in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of the mouse, suggesting that the lipidized polypeptide is a better candidate for the design of an oral formulation for the chemoprevention of breast cancer. These results strongly support our original proposal, and will be very useful for the development of an effective and practical chemopreventive agent for breast cancer.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA355330
Entities
People
- Wei C. Shen
Organizations
- University of Southern California