Study On Gene Expression Profiling Of K562 Cells After Artemisinin Treatment

Artemisinin is a plant-derived chemical that has been used to treat malaria in China. When artenisinin or any of its derivatives comes into plasmodium and contact with iron, a chemical reaction ensues, spawning charged atoms that chemists call free radicals that can attack the cell membrane and other molecules, breaking it apart and killing the parasite. Because most cancer cells need more iron to replicate DNA, as a result, cancer cells have much higher iron concentrations than normal cells. Understanding how artemisinin worked, we can use that knowledge to target cancer cells.Iron metabolize is in a highly stabilization inside cells. When cells are lack of iron, the pathway of ingestion iron is activated and iron export is reduced at the same time. Iron equilibrium depends on the cooperation of transferrin, transferrin receptors and iron-carrying protein. Once artemisinin is transported into cancer cells, a chemical reaction occurs between it and iron. The free radicals come forth during the reaction and as a strong alkylation reagent, it can attack the biologic molecule easily. And the direct reaction in the membrane system can cause cytotoxic effect,...