title: Screening to Identify Commonly Used Chinese Herbs That Affect ERBB2 and ESR1 Gene Expression Using the Human Breast Cancer MCF-7 Cell Line.
abstract: Aim. Our aim the was to screen the commonly used Chinese herbs in order to detect changes in ERBB2 and ESR1 gene expression using MCF-7 cells. Methods. Using the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line, cell cytotoxicity and proliferation were evaluated by MTT and trypan blue exclusion assays, respectively. A luciferase reporter assay was established by transient transfecting MCF-7 cells with plasmids containing either the ERBB2 or the ESR1 promoter region linked to the luciferase gene. Chinese herbal extracts were used to treat the cells at 24 h after transfection, followed by measurement of their luciferase activity. The screening results were verified by Western blotting to measure HER2 and ER α protein expression. Results. At concentrations that induced little cytotoxicity, thirteen single herbal extracts and five compound recipes were found to increase either ERBB2 or ESR1 luciferase activity. By Western blotting, Si-Wu-Tang, Kuan-Shin-Yin, and Suan-Tsao-Ren-Tang were found to increase either HER2 or ER α protein expression. In addition, Ligusticum chuanxiong was shown to have a great effect on ERBB2 gene expression and synergistically with estrogen to stimulate MCF-7 cell growth. Conclusion. Our results provide important information that should affect clinical treatment strategies among breast cancer patients who are receiving hormonal or targeted therapies.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan ; Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan ; Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jen-Hwey
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3046-6250
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 202, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chun-Ju
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung 81362, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jing-Chong
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hui-Ju
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0674-0996
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Che-Sheng
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chung-Hua
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2496-7246
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan ; Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jiun-Liang
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan ; School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ling-Ming
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4648-6646
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.affiliation: Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan ; Experimental Surgery of the Department of Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Shone
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Shyr