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Balsamin induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells via DNA fragmentation and cell cycle arrest

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Abstract

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer causing death worldwide with metastasis and disease relapse being the major drawbacks in current treatments. Therefore, development of novel drugs is needed. Balsamin, a 28 kDa Type I ribosome-inactivating protein, is rich in the seeds of Momordica balsamina. In this study, the molecular mechanism and the possible effects of balsamin on the two key hallmarks of cancer were investigated. Firstly, the induction of apoptosis in human breast cancer MCF-7 and BT549 cells showed that balsamin-induced apoptosis involved increases in caspase-3 and caspase-8 activity, upregulation of Bax, Bid, and Bad, and downregulation of BCL-2 and BCL-XL. Furthermore, balsamin inhibited the proliferation of breast cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner with IC50 values of 24.53 and 32.79 µg/ml for MCF-7 and BT549 cells, respectively. Moreover, flow cytometric analysis revealed that balsamin induced S-/G-phase cell cycle arrest. Our studies show that balsamin has anti-tumor activity and could be used as a neutraceutical for the treatment of breast cancer.

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Abbreviations

RIPs:

Ribosome-inactivating proteins

RNA:

Ribonucleic acid

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

MAP30:

Momordica antiviral protein 30

MTT:

3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide

DMEM:

Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium

FBS:

Fetal bovine serum

PBS:

Phosphate buffered saline

ATCC:

American Type Culture Collection

PI:

Propidium iodide

ANOVA:

One-way analysis of variance

CHOP:

C/EBP homologous protein

GADD153:

DNA damage-inducible gene 153

GRP78:

78 kDa glucose-regulated protein

BiP:

Binding immunoglobulin protein

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Acknowledgements

PKA acknowledges the award of Postgraduate Research Scholarship from Deakin University, Australia. PKA thanks Tim Connor, Metabolic Research Unit, School of Medicine, Deakin University, for helping out with in vitro cytotoxic studies.

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Author notes

  1. Munish Puri

    Present address: Centre for Marine Bioproducts Development, Medical Biotechnology, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bioprocessing Laboratory, Centre for Chemistry and Biotechnology, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, 75 Pigdons Road, Locked Bag 20000, Geelong, VIC, 3220, Australia

    Parminder K. Ajji & Munish Puri

  2. School of Medicine, Centre for Molecular and Medical Research, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, 75 Pigdons Road, Locked Bag 20000, Geelong, VIC, 3220, Australia

    Marley J. Binder & Ken Walder

Authors
  1. Parminder K. Ajji
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Correspondence to Munish Puri.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Ajji, P.K., Binder, M.J., Walder, K. et al. Balsamin induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells via DNA fragmentation and cell cycle arrest. Mol Cell Biochem 432, 189–198 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-017-3009-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-017-3009-x

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