Studying the effects of secondary metabolites isolated from Cycas thouarsii R.Br. leaves on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells

• Published in: Artificial cells, nanomedicine, and biotechnology nanomedicine, and biotechnology, 2024-12, Vol.52 (1), p.103-113
• Main Authors: Alotaibi, Badriyah, A El-Masry, Thanaa, Elekhnawy, Engy, Mokhtar, Fatma A, El-Seadawy, Hosam M, A Negm, Walaa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acids; Annexin V; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Antineoplastic drugs; Apoptosis; BAX protein; Bcl-2 protein; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - drug therapy; Butanol; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell membranes; Cell Proliferation; Chlorogenic acid; Coumaric Acids; Cycas; Cytotoxicity; Disease management; DNA fragmentation; Drug resistance; Electrophoresis; Epithelial cells; Epithelium; Female; Ferulic acid; Flow cytometry; gene expression; Hesperidin; Humans; MDA-MB-231 Cells; Metabolites; MTT assay; p53 Protein; phytochemicals; Secondary metabolites; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 - genetics
• ISSN: 2169-1401; 2169-141X
• DOI: 10.1080/21691401.2024.2306529

The various therapeutic drugs that are currently utilized for the management of cancer, especially breast cancer, are greatly challenged by the augmented resistance that is either acquired or de novo by the cancer cells owing to the long treatment periods. So, this study aimed at elucidating the possible anticancer potential of four compounds 7, 4', 7'', 4'''-tetra- -methyl amentoflavone, hesperidin, ferulic acid, and chlorogenic acid that are isolated from leaves -butanol fraction for the first time. The MTT assay evaluated the cytotoxic action of four isolated compounds against MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells and oral epithelial cells. Interestingly, ferulic acid revealed the lowest IC of 12.52 µg/mL against MDA-MB-231 cells and a high IC of 80.2 µg/mL against oral epithelial cells. Also, using an inverted microscope, the influence of ferulic acid was studied on the MDA-MB-231, which revealed the appearance of apoptosis characteristics like shrinkage of the cells and blebbing of the cell membrane. In addition, the flow cytometric analysis showed that the MDA-MB-231 cells stained with Annexin V/PI had a rise in the count of the cells in the early and late apoptosis stages. Moreover, gel electrophoresis detected DNA fragmentation in the ferulic acid-treated cells. Finally, the effect of the compound was tested at the molecular level by qRT-PCR. An upregulation of the pro-apoptotic genes ( and P53) and a downregulation of the anti-apoptotic gene ( ) were observed. Consequently, our study demonstrated that these isolated compounds, especially ferulic acid, may be vital anticancer agents, particularly for breast cancer, through its induction of apoptosis through the P53-dependent pathway.