Inhibition of cell growth by BrMC through inactivation of Akt in HER-2/neu-overexpressing breast cancer cells

Effect of quercetin and chrysin and its association on viability and cell cycle progression in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 human breast cancer cells

Pharmacological properties of flavonoids have been reported, with an anticancer role amongst them, however, its mechanisms are not fully elucidated. In this study, the activity of quercetin and chrysin towards MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells was investigated. Cellular viability was determined after treatment with the compounds in different concentrations for 24 h. Secondly, cells were treated with fixed concentration of chrysin and different concentrations of quercetin with preincubation for 1 h. Both compounds inhibited cellular proliferation in dose-dependent manner. The association showed improvement in their cytotoxicity, more expressively with preincubation of quercetin. Quercetin and chrysin association induced cell cycle arrest in sub-G0/G1 phase in MDA-MB-231 cells, modified the expression of caspases-3 and -8,-8, inducing late apoptosis cell death. Taken together, our results demonstrate that both flavonoids inhibited cells growth in a dose-dependent manner and the association of quercetin improved chrysin's toxic effect over the cell lines.

Development of PEGylated PLGA Nanoparticles Co-Loaded with Bioactive Compounds: Potential Anticancer Effect on Breast Cancer Cell Lines

OBJECTIVE

The incidence of breast cancer continues to rise despite decades of laboratory, epidemiological and clinical research. Breast cancer is still the leading cause of cancer death in women. Cyclin D1 is one of the most important oncoproteins associated with cancer cell proliferation and is overexpressed in more than 50% of cases. Curcumin and chrysin are plant-derived components that are believed to assist in inhibiting the viability of breast cancer cells. These agents are involved in cancer cells' growth and reducing cyclin D1 expression. In this study, the hypothesis of combining curcumin and chrysin is applied to analyze the potential synergistic effect in inhibiting cancer cell proliferation and down-regulation of cyclin D1. Furthermore, applying PLGA-PEG NPs could improve the bioavailability of free curcumin and chrysin components and at the same time increases the anti-cancer potential of this compound.

METHODS

PLGA-PEG NPs were synthesized via the ring-opening polymerization technique and characterized with FT-IR and FE-SEM for chemical structure and morphological characteristics, respectively. Next, curcumin and chrysin were loaded in PLGA-PEG NPs and MTT assay was performed to assess the cytotoxic effect of these agents. T-47D cells were treated with appropriate concentrations of these agents and cyclin D1 expression level was evaluated by real-time PCR.

RESULTS

The obtained results from FT-IR and FE-SEM techniques illustrated that curcumin and chrysin were efficiently encapsulated into PLGA-PEG NPs. Curcumin, chrysin, and curcumin-chrysin in free and nano-encapsulated forms exhibited an anti-cancer effect on T-47D cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner, especially in a combination of free and encapsulated forms demonstrated synergistic anti-cancer effects. Compared to free form, Nano-curcumin, Nano-chrysin, and Nano-combination remarkably down-regulated cyclin D1 gene expression. (p-value < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Our results revealed that the curcumin-chrysin combination has a synergistic effect and the encapsulated form of this nano-component has more inhibition on cyclin D1 expression.<br />.

Emerging cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying anticancer indications of chrysin

Chrysin has been shown to exert several beneficial pharmacological activities. Chrysin has anti-cancer, anti-viral, anti-diabetic, neuroprotective, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, and renoprotective as well as gastrointestinal, respiratory, reproductive, ocular, and skin protective effects through modulating signaling pathway involved in apoptosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation. In the current review, we discussed the emerging cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying therapeutic indications of chrysin in various cancers. Online databases comprising Scopus, PubMed, Embase, ProQuest, Science Direct, Web of Science, and the search engine Google Scholar were searched for available and eligible research articles. The search was conducted by using MeSH terms and keywords in title, abstract, and keywords. In conclusion, experimental studies indicated that chrysin could ameliorate cancers of the breast, gastrointestinal tract, liver and hepatocytes, bladder, male and female reproductive systems, choroid, respiratory tract, thyroid, skin, eye, brain, blood cells, leukemia, osteoblast, and lymph. However, more studies are needed to enhance the bioavailability of chrysin and evaluate this agent in clinical trial studies.

Evaluation of the Hemocompatibility and Anticancer Potential of Poly(ε-Caprolactone) and Poly(3-Hydroxybutyrate) Microcarriers with Encapsulated Chrysin

In this work, novel chrysin-loaded poly(ε-caprolactone) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) microcarriers were synthesized according to a modified oil-in-water single emulsion/solvent evaporation method, utilizing poly(vinyl alcohol) surfactant as stabilizer and dispersing agent for the emulsification, and were evaluated for their physico-chemical and morphological properties, loading capacity and entrapment efficiency and in vitro release of their load. The findings suggest that the novel micro-formulations possess a spherical and relatively wrinkled structure with sizes ranging between 2.4 and 24.7 µm and a highly negative surface charge with z-potential values between (-18.1)-(-14.1) mV. The entrapment efficiency of chrysin in the poly(ε-caprolactone) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) microcarriers was estimated to be 58.10% and 43.63%, whereas the loading capacity was found to be 3.79% and 15.85%, respectively. The average release percentage of chrysin was estimated to be 23.10% and 18.01%, respectively. The novel micromaterials were further biologically evaluated for their hemolytic activity through hemocompatibility studies over a range of hematological parameters and cytoxicity against the epithelial human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB 231. The poly(ε-caprolactone) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) microcarriers reached an IC50 value with an encapsulated chrysin content of 149.19 µM and 312.18 µM, respectively, and showed sufficient blood compatibility displaying significantly low (up to 2%) hemolytic percentages at concentrations between 5 and 500 µg·mL-1.

Antrodia salmonea-induced oxidative stress abrogates HER-2 signaling cascade and enhanced apoptosis in ovarian carcinoma cells

Antrodia salmonea is well known in Taiwan as a traditional Chinese medicinal fungus and has demonstrated antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects. However, the anticancer activity of A. salmonea against human ovarian cancer is still elusive. Therefore, we investigated the antiovarian tumor activity of a fermented culture broth of A. salmonea and exhibits its underlying molecular mechanism. A. salmonea shows a significant effect on cell viability in human ovarian carcinoma (SKOV-3 or A2780) cell lines with an 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Increased terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling-positive cells and annexin V-propidium iodide stained cells indicate that A. salmonea induces late apoptosis in SKOV-3 cells. Notably, treatment with A. salmonea induced the following events: Apoptosis; caspase-3, -8, -9 and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase activation; first apoptosis signal (Fas) and Fas ligand activation; Bid cleavage; and Bax2-B-cell lymphoma 2 dysregulation. The results show that A. salmonea-induced apoptosis was mediated by both mitochondrial and death receptor pathways. An increase in intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) was also observed in A. salmonea-treated cells, whereas the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) prevented A. salmonea-induced cell death and DNA fragmentation, indicating that A. salmonea-induced apoptosis was mediated by ROS generation. Interestingly, A. salmonea-induced apoptosis is associated with the suppression of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2/neu) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-protein kinase B (AKT) expression in HER-2/neu overexpressing SKOV-3 cells. NAC significantly prevented A. salmonea-induced HER-2/neu depletion and PI3K/AKT inactivation, indicating that A. salmonea-triggered apoptosis is mediated by ROS-inhibited HER-2/neu signaling cascades. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing the anticancer activity of this potentially beneficial mushroom against human ovarian carcinoma.

Reversal of liver cancer-associated stellate cell-induced stem-like characteristics in SMMC-7721 cells by 8-bromo-7-methoxychrysin via inhibiting STAT3 activation

Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) that are activated by human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells secrete a variety of cytokines, which are the main component of the HCC microenvironment. We aimed to determine whether 8-bromo-7-methoxychrysin (BrMC) could interfere in cross-talk of the human hepatic stellate cell line LX-2 and liver cancer stem-like cells (LCSLCs) to inhibit the characteristics of LCSLCs endowed with the capacity of sustaining human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) self-renewal and progression, and to identify its potential mechanism of action. We found that the levels of fibroblast activation protein (FAP) were augmented in LX-2 cells treated with the conditioned medium of LCSLCs (LCSLC-CM) compared to those cultured with routine medium, indicating that the LCSLC-CM can activate LX-2 cells to become liver cancer-associated stellate cells (LCAHSCs). Furthermore, sphere forming capability of SMMC-7721 cells was enhanced and stem cell-related protein expression was significantly increased following treatment with the conditioned medium of LCAHSCs (LCAHSC-CM). Moreover, the level of p-STAT3 was increased in LX-2 cells treated with LCSLC-CM and BrMC reduced expression of p-STAT3. Combination of BrMC and the selective inhibitor of STAT3 cucurbitacin I (JSI-124) synergistically suppressed the LCSLC characteristics in SMMC-7721 cells. Collectively, our data showed that BrMC inhibited the interaction between LX-2 cells and HCC-derived CSCs, and did so potentially through modulation of the STAT3 pathway. Future therapeutic strategies employing anti-CSC therapy should confirm the potential of cucurbitacin I (JSI-124) and BrMC as potent therapeutic agents.

Preparation and Evaluation of Chrysin Encapsulated in PLGA- PEG Nanoparticles in the T47-D Breast Cancer Cell Line

BACKGROUND

Polymeric nanoparticles are attractive materials that have been widely used in medicine for drug delivery, with therapeutic applications. In our study, polymeric nanoparticles and the anticancer drug, chrysin, were encapsulated into poly (D, L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) poly (ethylene glycol) (PLGA-PEG) nanoparticles for local treatment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

PLGA: PEG triblock copolymers were synthesized by ring-opening polymerization of D, L-lactide and glycolide as an initiator. The bulk properties of these copolymers were characterized using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. In addition, the resulting particles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy.

RESULTS

The chrysin encapsulation efficiency achieved for polymeric nanoparticles was 70% control of release kinetics. The cytotoxicity of different concentration of pure chrysin and chrysin loaded in PLGA-PEG (5-640μM) on T47-D breast cancer cell line was analyzed by MTT-assay.

CONCLUSIONS

There is potential for use of these nanoparticles for biomedical applications. Future work should include in vivo investigation of the targeting capability and effectiveness of these nanoparticles in the treatment of breast cancer.