Chemomodulatory effects of Alysicarpus vaginalis extract via mitochondria-dependent apoptosis and necroptosis in breast cancer

Abstract

The present study intended to assess the anticancer potential of Alysicarpus vaginalis ethyl acetate fraction (AVEAF) in breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-453) and against N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) induced mammary carcinoma in Sprague-Dawley rats which resemble the human estrogen dependent breast cancer. The SRB assay showed that the maximum growth inhibition rate of AVEAF on MCF-7 cell was 27.12 at 100 µg/ml. Flow cytometry analysis observed that AVEAF induced the cell cycle arrest at the S phases and decreased in mitochondrial membrane potential on the MCF-7 cells. AVEAF elevated intracellular ROS level in the MCF-7 cells which were reversed with N-acetycysteine (2 mM) pretreatment indicating that AVEAF induced mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis via augmentation of intracellular ROS. Western blotting exhibited that AVEAF increased the expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bax while decreasing anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL expression which promoted the cleavage of caspase-9, PARP1, RIPK 1, and RIPK 3. Additionally, AVEAF exerted anticancer effect on tumor-bearing rats and the tumor inhibition rate is 50%. Data of the study indicate that AVEAF exhibits In Vitro and In Vivo anticancer activities that associate with its ROS-mediated mitochondrial-mediated intrinsic pathway of apoptosis and necroptosis in MCF-7 cells and may serve as a potential against breast cancer.