Astragalus extract was chosen because it has been shown to lower lung cancer in mice and inhibit the protein complex NF-kB’s transcription activity, which in turn increases antitumor behavior. Astragalus extract has also been shown to release certain macrophages that block cancer cell growth.
Nitric oxide is released by Astragalus polysaccharides, and it is a signaling factor which triggers tumor cell apoptosis. It does so by upregulating p53, polymerase, and DNA-dependent protein kinases.
In this experiment, a successful treatment has an average percent survival of 50% or less to be considered a potential chemotherapy because this experiment tests the effects of our compound, Astragalus extract, in combination with radiation, and radiation alone results in a percent survival of 50%. Therefore, a successful treatment must have an average percent survival of 50% or less as the goal of the experiment is to find a drug which increases the effect of radiation.
The positive control was colchicine, which relates to the experiment as it is a known chemotherapy. Therefore, it relates to percent survival as it will be used in comparison with our drug’s percent survival, Astragalus extract. The negative control, water, is useful in this experiment because it is not expected to produce a significant change in percent survival. Furthermore, a “hit” is determined as any percent survival that is less than two standard deviations of the average percent survival of the negative control.
We hypothesized a percent survival less than 50% for Astragalus extract as astragalus extract has shown to lower lung cancer in mice and trigger tumor cell apoptosis. Since a successful treatment should result in a 50% survival or less, Astragalus extract seemed fitting as previous research suggested that it would prove to be a potential chemotherapy.
It is odd that the percent survival went down as the dose went down—you would think that the percent survival would be lowest at the highest does of compound. Do you have any idea why this may be?
I agree with you that this is definitely an anomaly. However, this would have to be researched further in future directions as it was an unexpected occurrence.
Why was astragalus extract chosen?
Astragalus extract was chosen because it has been shown to lower lung cancer in mice and inhibit the protein complex NF-kB’s transcription activity, which in turn increases antitumor behavior. Astragalus extract has also been shown to release certain macrophages that block cancer cell growth.
Im interested in mechanism how does nitric oxide does inhibits cancer growth?
Nitric oxide is released by Astragalus polysaccharides, and it is a signaling factor which triggers tumor cell apoptosis. It does so by upregulating p53, polymerase, and DNA-dependent protein kinases.
Does a successful treatment only have to have a 50% success rate?
In this experiment, a successful treatment has an average percent survival of 50% or less to be considered a potential chemotherapy because this experiment tests the effects of our compound, Astragalus extract, in combination with radiation, and radiation alone results in a percent survival of 50%. Therefore, a successful treatment must have an average percent survival of 50% or less as the goal of the experiment is to find a drug which increases the effect of radiation.
How are negative and positive controls related to percent survival?
The positive control was colchicine, which relates to the experiment as it is a known chemotherapy. Therefore, it relates to percent survival as it will be used in comparison with our drug’s percent survival, Astragalus extract. The negative control, water, is useful in this experiment because it is not expected to produce a significant change in percent survival. Furthermore, a “hit” is determined as any percent survival that is less than two standard deviations of the average percent survival of the negative control.
Nice work! I was curious why you chose a less than 50% survival for astragalus extract?
We hypothesized a percent survival less than 50% for Astragalus extract as astragalus extract has shown to lower lung cancer in mice and trigger tumor cell apoptosis. Since a successful treatment should result in a 50% survival or less, Astragalus extract seemed fitting as previous research suggested that it would prove to be a potential chemotherapy.
It is odd that the percent survival went down as the dose went down—you would think that the percent survival would be lowest at the highest does of compound. Do you have any idea why this may be?
I agree with you that this is definitely an anomaly. However, this would have to be researched further in future directions as it was an unexpected occurrence.