Berberine Inhibits MDA-MB-231 Cells by Attenuating Their Inflammatory Responses.

Lina Zhao,Chunhai Zhang

doi:10.1155/2020/3617514

Abstract

Breast cancer initiation is closely associated with cytokines that can change the inflammatory tumor microenvironment. Compounds extracted from plants have been explored for the possibility of cancer treatment in the recent decades. Berberine is an isoquinoline plant alkaloid with remarkable antioxidant and anti-inflammation roles, which is used in ethnic medicines, including traditional Chinese and North American medicine. In the present study, we investigated the effects of berberine on the malignant tumor cell behaviors in a breast cell line, MDA-MB-231. We found that berberine could not influence the cell viability in normal condition but was able to decrease the cancer cell migration capability in a scratch wound model and accordingly prolong the wound healing time. Furthermore, our results demonstrated that berberine inhibited the increased phosphorylation of c-Jun and c-Fos in these scratched cancer cells. With the cotreatment with LPS, which could boost the expression of cytokines in these cancer cells, berberine significantly reduced the increased expression of TNF-α and IL-6. Meanwhile, we found that berberine inhibited the activation of NF-κB by preventing the degradation of IκBα.

Highlights

Breast cancer is among the major causes of cancer mortality in the female population worldwide [1]
Scientists have put intensive efforts in this field to reveal the molecular mechanisms of breast cancer, the tumorigenesis of breast cancer on the level of pathophysiological conditions is not well profiled yet
The doses of the berberine used here were based on the previous report from Sarna et al [7]. As shown in this figure, berberine failed to show any sign of reduction of the viability of these breast cancer cells even in the highest concentration

Summary

Introduction

Breast cancer is among the major causes of cancer mortality in the female population worldwide [1]. It accounts for one-third of newly diagnosed cancer in women of the United States [2]. Despite the remarkable progress in the treatment of breast cancer surgically and chemotherapeutically, breast cancer still remains one of the key vicious diseases for women in modern society globally. Scientists have put intensive efforts in this field to reveal the molecular mechanisms of breast cancer, the tumorigenesis of breast cancer on the level of pathophysiological conditions is not well profiled yet. Regulating the inflammatory response in the tumor microenvironment may amend the current treatment regime of breast cancer

Methods

Results

Conclusion