Berberine activates caspase-9/cytochrome c-mediated apoptosis to suppress triple-negative breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo

• Published in: Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy 2017-11, Vol.95, p.18-24
• Main Authors: Zhao, Yuwan, Jing, Zuolei, Lv, Jian, Zhang, Zhiwei, Lin, Jintao, Cao, Xuejiao, Zhao, Zinan, Liu, Pixu, Mao, Weifeng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Apoptosis; Apoptosis - drug effects; Berberine; Berberine - pharmacology; Breast Neoplasms - drug therapy; Caspase 9 - metabolism; Caspase-9; Cell Line, Tumor; Cytochromes c - metabolism; Female; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic - drug effects; Humans; Mice; Mice, Nude; Neoplasms, Experimental - drug therapy; Triple-negative breast cancer
• ISSN: 0753-3322; 1950-6007
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2017.08.045

Berberine (BBR) is an isoquinoline alkaloid isolated from Cotridis rhizoma and exhibits multiple biological roles including anti-microbe, anti-inflammation and anti-tumor activities. In this study, two triple-negative breast cancer cell (TNBC) lines, MDA-MB-231 and BT549, were used to investigate the effect of BBR on growth of TNBC in vitro and in vivo. 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to evaluate the viability of cells treated with BBR. After 48h treatments, a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of BBR to BT549 and MDA-MB-231 cells are at 16.575±1.219μg/ml and 18.525±6.139μg/ml respectively. BBR reduced colony formation of BT549 and MDA-MB-231 cells. The wound-healing assay showed BBR decreased breast cancer cell migrations (P