Abstract
The S-Allyl-L-cysteine (SAC) component of aged garlic extract (AGE) is proven to have anticancer, antihepatotoxic, neuroprotective and neurotrophic properties. γ-Cystathionase (CTH), cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) and 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (MPST) are involved in H2S/sulfane sulfur endogenous formation from L-cysteine. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of SAC on MCF-7 cells survival and apoptosis, which is a widely known approach to reduce the number of cancer cells. An additional goal of this paper was to investigate the effect of SAC on the activity and expression of enzymes involved in H2S production. The experiments were carried out in the human breast adenocarcinoma cell line MCF-7. Changes in the cell viability were determined by MTT assay. Cell survival was determined by flow cytometry (FC). Changes in enzymes expression were analyzed using Western blot. After 24 h and 48 h incubation with 2245 µM SAC, induction of late apoptosis was observed. A decrease in cell viability was observed with increasing SAC concentration and incubation time. SAC had no significant cytotoxic effect on the MCF-7 cells upon all analyzed concentrations. CTH, MPST and CBS expression were confirmed in non-treated MCF-7 cells. Significant decrease in MPST activity at 2245 µM SAC after 24 h and 48 h incubation vs. 1000 µM SAC was associated with decrease in sulfane sulfur levels. The presented results show promising SAC effects regarding the deterioration of the MCF-7 cells’ condition in reducing their viability through the downregulation of MPST expression and sulfate sulfur level reduction.
Highlights
Natural sulfur precursor compounds are said to show an anti-cancer potential regarding their ability to inhibit the proliferation, as well as antioxidant possibilities [1]
IC50 coefficients calculated from the growth inhibition curves (Figure 1A) after 24 and 48 h of incubation were 1185.45 ± 10.93 μM for 24 h and 2382.29 ± 43.69 μM for 48 h, respectively
The promising effects were shown for substances such as govaniadine isolated from the Corydalis govaniana root walls where cytotoxic and pro-apoptotic effects were described in the MCF-7 cell model [26]
Summary
Natural sulfur precursor compounds are said to show an anti-cancer potential regarding their ability to inhibit the proliferation, as well as antioxidant possibilities [1]. Breast cancer is researched as one of the most commonly diagnosed malignancies among women [2]. Examples of such a sulfur compound is a naturally occurring sulfonium compound: S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM). It has been shown to possess antiproliferative properties in various cancer cells. It has inhibited the proliferation of breast cancer cells MCF-7 by inducing both autophagy and apoptosis [3]. Luo et al [4] indicated that SAM treatment inhibited cell growth in gastric and colon cancer cells, and the inhibitory effect was significantly higher than that in normal cells
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