title: Curcumin and silibinin inhibit telomerase expression in T47D human breast cancer cells.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Telomerase has been considered as an attractive molecular target for breast cancer therapy. The main objective of this work is to assess the inhibitory effects of silibinin and curcumin, two herbal substances, on telomerase gene expression in breast cancer cells.
  
  
  METHODS
  For determination of cell viability tetrazolium-based assays were conducted after 24, 48, and 72 h exposure times and expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene was measured with real-time PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Each compound exerted cytotoxic effects on T47D cells and inhibited telomerase gene expression, both in a time-and dose-dependent manner. The mixture of curcumin and silibinin showed relatively more inhibitory effect on growth of T47D cells and hTERT gene expression as compared with either agent alone.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that cell viability along with hTERT gene expression in breast cancer cells could be reduced by curcumin and silibinin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Marzieh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nasiri
authors.forename: Nosratollah
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zarghami
authors.forename: Kazem Nejati
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Koshki
authors.forename: Mahdieh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mollazadeh
authors.forename: Mohammad Pourhassan
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Moghaddam
authors.forename: Mohammad Rahmati
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Yamchi
authors.forename: Rana Jahanban
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Esfahlan
authors.forename: Amin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barkhordari
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alibakhshi
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D003474:Curcumin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000187:drug effects*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D000077385:Silybin; D012838:Silymarin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019098:Telomerase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D000975:Antioxidants; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012838:Silymarin; D000077385:Silybin; C509186:TERT protein, human; D019098:Telomerase; D003474:Curcumin