Abstract
Rice bran contains many functional compounds, such as tocotrienol (T3), ferulic acid, and γ-oryzanol. T3, an unsaturated vitamin E, is gaining a lot of attention owing to its potent anticancer effect, since the anticancer efficacy of T3 is much greater than that of tocopherol. As a high telomerase activity is detected in most cancer cells and tumor tissues, telomerase represents an attractive target for cancer treatment. T3 reduced telomerase activity in DLD-1 human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells by down-regulating c-myc and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) expressions via protein kinase C inhibition. In addition, ferulic acid potentiated cancer-fighting effects (cell growth inhibition through G1 arrest and telomerase suppression) of T3. Thus, the present study provided novel evidence supporting the anticancer function of T3 through elucidation of a new mechanism of the anticancer action of T3.
