title: S-Allylcysteine reduces breast tumor cell adhesion and invasion.
abstract: Previous studies show that aqueous garlic extract and its derivatives (e.g. S-allylcysteine [SAC]) prevent carcinogen-induced breast tumorigenesis. However, investigations testing the effect of SAC on later stages of breast tumorigenesis and/or metastasis have produced mixed results. Here we show that SAC significantly reduced anchorage-dependent and -independent growth of MDA-MB-231 breast tumor cells in a dose- and time-dependent fashion, and sub-lethal SAC-treatment altered mammary tumor cell adhesion and invasion through components of the extracellular matrix. We provide evidence to suggest increased expression of E-cadherin and reduced MMP-2 expression and activity are partially responsible for inhibition of mammary tumor cell invasion by SAC. Because E-cadherin and MMP-2 are important in cancer metastasis, these results suggest a link between SAC induction of E-cadherin and reduction of MMP2 activity with the inhibition of cell motility and invasion; thus providing evidence that events leading to breast cancer metastasis are repressed by sub-lethal SAC-treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, 18 Science Drive 4, Building S4, Singapore 117543, Republic of Singapore.
authors.forename: Leslie A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Gapter
authors.forename: Ong Zhan
authors.initials: OZ
authors.lastname: Yuin
authors.forename: Ka-Yun
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Ng
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D003545:Cysteine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins; C065299:S-allylcysteine; D003545:Cysteine