title: Antitumor mechanisms of S-allyl mercaptocysteine for breast cancer therapy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  S-allyl mercaptocysteine (SAMC), a water-soluble component derived from garlic, has been found to exert multi-antitumor activities. This study was to investigate the responsible molecular mechanisms of SAMC in human breast cancer cell lines.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sulforhodamine B assay was used to determine cell viability, flow cytometry was applied for the analysis of cell cycle and cell apoptosis, the change of protein was detected by Western blot.
  
  
  RESULTS
  It was found that SAMC exhibited an effective cell growth inhibition of human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 (ER positive) and MDA-MB-231 (ER negative) in a dose- and time-dependent manner by inducing cell cycle arrested in G0/G1 phase, the block of cell cycle was associated with the up-regulation of p53 and p21. Furthermore, the SAMC-mediated cell cycle arrest was accompanied with promotion of apoptosis, as indicated by the changes in the nuclear morphology and expressions of apoptosis-related proteins. SAMC clearly triggered the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway as indicated by activation of Bax, decreased expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL, and subsequent activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results highlight the value of a continued investigation into the use of SAMC as a potential antitumor candidate for breast cancer.
authors: Hong
authors: H
authors: Zhang
authors: Kaiming
authors: K
authors: Wang
authors: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Center for Pharmaceutical Research & DDS, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250012, China. guimeilin@sdu.edu.cn.
authors: Guimei
authors: G
authors: Lin
authors: Zhongxi
authors: Z
authors: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003545:Cysteine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; C086300:S-allylmercaptocysteine; D003545:Cysteine