Tea and Cancer Prevention
Spanish and British scientists have discovered how green tea helps to prevent certain types of cancer.
Researchers at the University of Murcia in Spain and the John Innes Center in Norwich, England have shown that a compound called EGCG in green tea prevents cancer cells from growing by binding to a specific enzyme.
"We have shown for the first time that EGCG, which is present in green tea at relatively high concentrations, inhibits the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase, which is a recognized, established target for anti-cancer drugs," Professor Roger Thorneley, of JIC, told Reuters.
And, according to Rodriguez, S.K., Guo, W., Liu, L., Band, M.A., Paulson, E.K., Meydani, M. 2006. Green tea catechin, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (egcg) inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor angiogenic signaling by disrupting the formation of a receptor complex. Internation Journal of Cancer. 118(7):1635-44. "A potential mechanism by which green tea may prevent cancer development is through the inhibition of angiogenesis. We have shown previously that the green tea catechin, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), inhibits endothelial cell tube formation through the inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced Akt activation and vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin phosphorylation. " These results suggest a novel mechanism for green tea¿s anti-cancer effects where EGCG can abrogate VEGF signaling by interfering with the formation of a receptor complex resulting in attenuated mitogenic and angiogenic signaling.
The USDA Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) is one of six human nutrition research centers in the United States supported by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the research arm of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
