title: Antitumor effects of concanavalin A and Sophora flavescens lectin in vitro and in vivo.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Proteins with legume lectin domains are known to possess a wide range of biological functions. Here, the antitumor effects of two representative legume lectins, concanavalin A (ConA) and Sophora flavescens lectin (SFL), on human breast carcinoma cells were investigated in vitro and in vivo.
  
  
  METHODS
  Human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells and human normal mammary epithelial MCF-10A cells were examined. Cell viability was detected using WST-1 and CCK-8 assays. Cell apoptosis was analyzed with Hoechst 33258 staining. Cell cycle was investigated using flow cytometry. The expression of relevant proteins was measured using Western blotting. Breast carcinoma MCF-7 bearing nude mice were used to study the antitumor effects in vivo. The mice were injected with ConA (40 mg/kg, ip) and SFL (55 mg/kg, ip) daily for 14 d.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ConA and SFL inhibited the growth of MCF-7 cells in dose- and time-dependent manners (IC50 values were 15 and 20 μg/mL, respectively). Both ConA and SFL induced apoptotic morphology in MCF-7 cells without affecting MCF-10A cells. ConA and SFL dose-dependently increased the sub-G1 proportion in MCF-7 cells, while SFL also triggered the G2/M phase cell cycle arrest. Both ConA and SFL dose-dependently increased the activities of caspase-3 and caspase-9 and release of cytochrome C from mitochondria into cytoplasm, up-regulated Bax and Bid, and down-regulated Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL in MCF-7 cells. ConA reduced NF-κB, ERK, and JNK levels, and increased p53 and p21 levels, while SFL caused similar changes in NF-κB, ERK, p53, and p21 levels, but did not affect JNK expression. Administration of ConA and SFL significantly decreased the subcutaneous tumor mass volume and weight in MCF-7 bearing nude mice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ConA and SFL exert anti-tumor actions against human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells both in vitro and in vivo.
authors.affiliation: 1] School of Life Sciences and Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China [2] School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China.
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Central Laboratory of Clinical Medicine, Sichuan Academy of Medical Science & Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu 610072, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences and Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
authors.forename: Chun-yang
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences and Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences and Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
authors.forename: Zi-jie
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China.
authors.forename: Shu-lin
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China.
authors.forename: Kai-feng
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences and Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
authors.forename: Jin-ku
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Bao
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D037121:Plant Lectins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D029909:Sophora / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D037121:Plant Lectins; D003208:Concanavalin A