Matrine exerts an anti-tumor effect via regulating HN1 in triple breast cancer both in vitro and in vivo.

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The treatment of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cannot meet medical needs, and it is urgent to find new drugs for intervention. This study aimed to investigate the anti-tumor effect of matrine on the proliferation and apoptosis of TNBC cells based on HN1 regulation in vitro and in vivo. TNBC cell lines (MDA-MB-453 and HCC-1806) were treated with varying concentrations of matrine (0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0 mM). CCK-8, colony formation assay, transwell assay, and flow cytometry assay were employed to detect proliferation, clone formation, invasion, and apoptosis of TNBC cells. Western blot analysis was applied to detect the protein expression of apoptosis HN1. The effects of matrine on tumor growth, protein expression of HN1, and apoptosis in vivo were validated by xenograft tumor models and histology. It was found that matrine inhibited proliferation, colony formation, and invasion and promoted apoptosis of TNBC cells in vitro. HN1 expression was suppressed by matrine. HN1 overexpression perceptibly reversed the above-mentioned additive effect in vitro. In vivo experiments found that matrine inhibited tumor growth and the expression of HN1 protein but promoted the protein expression of Cleared-Caspase-3. Above all, this study demonstrated that matrine inhibited proliferation and promoted apoptosis of TNBC cells via suppressing HN1 expression. Targeting HN1 by matrine may provide new insights into the therapeutic management of patients with TNBC.