Evaluation of flavonoids as agents to inhibit breast cancer

Abstract

Flavonoids (flavones and isoflavones) are abundant in plants and are known to be associated with the reduced risk of many chronic diseases. We screened 8 flavonoids for their ability to induce cell death in 4 breast cancer cell lines. These cell lines were selected based upon different phenotypes for signaling pathways to elucidate if certain pathways were required. Apigenin, chrysin, daidzein, genistein, kaempferol, luteolin, naringenin, and quercetin were screened at different concentrations and incubation times in MDAMB231, SKBr3, MCF7, BT‐474, and ZR75 cells. CellTiter‐Glo and trypan blue exclusion assays were performed at least three times to measure cell viability. Statistical data analysis was conducted for CellTiter‐using a four‐factor ANOVA model for drug, cell line, drug concentration, and time. F‐tests followed by Tukey's multiple comparison procedure were used to find statistically significant differences in cell death. All flavonoids were capable of inducing cell death. The strongest cell death occurred in all cell lines with apigenin or luteolin. Kaempferol and chrysin induced cell death but only at the highest concentrations used. Daidzein, genestein, naringenin, and quercetin killed cell lines very weakly. Our results suggest only certain flavonoids are capable of significant cell death across a variety of breast cancer cell lines. Support of research was through NSF‐REU Program at SJSU.