title: Anti-Cancer Activity of Solanum nigrum (AESN) through Suppression of Mitochondrial Function and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) in Breast Cancer Cells.
abstract: Chemotherapy is the main approach for treating advanced and recurrent carcinoma, but the clinical performance of chemotherapy is limited by relatively low response rates, drug resistance, and adverse effects that severely affect the quality of life of patients. An association between epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and chemotherapy resistance has been investigated in recent studies. Our recent studies have found that the aqueous extract of Solanum nigrum (AESN) is a crucial ingredient in some traditional Chinese medicine formulas for treating various types of cancer patients and exhibits antitumor effects. We evaluated the suppression of EMT in MCF-7 breast cancer cells treated with AESN. The mitochondrial morphology was investigated using Mitotracker Deep-Red FM stain. Our results indicated that AESN markedly inhibited cell viability of MCF-7 breast cancer cells through apoptosis induction and cell cycle arrest mediated by activation of caspase-3 and production of reactive oxygen species. Furthermore, mitochondrial fission was observed in MCF-7 breast cancer cells treated with AESN. In addition to elevation of E-cadherin, downregulations of ZEB1, N-cadherin, and vimentin were found in AESN-treated MCF-7 breast cancer cells. These results suggested that AESN could inhibit EMT of MCF-7 breast cancer cells mediated by attenuation of mitochondrial function. AESN could be potentially beneficial in treating breast cancer cells, and may be of interest for future studies in developing integrative cancer therapy against proliferation, metastasis, and migration of breast cancer cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, National Quemoy University, Quemoy 89250, Taiwan. d91641006@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ying-Jang
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Department of Chinese Medicine, Taipei University Hospital, Taipei 11042, Taiwan. chenjtai@tmu.edu.tw.|Traditioal Herbal Medicine Research Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei 11042, Taiwan. chenjtai@tmu.edu.tw.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11042, Taiwan. chenjtai@tmu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Chen-Jei
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11042, Taiwan. cwwang@ms4.hinet.net.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei 11042, Taiwan. cwwang@ms4.hinet.net.
authors.forename: Chia-Woei
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11042, Taiwan. chenyen_318@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Chen-Yen
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Choong
authors.affiliation: Department of Chinese Medicine, Taipei University Hospital, Taipei 11042, Taiwan. f96b47117@ntu.edu.tw.|Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11042, Taiwan. f96b47117@ntu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Bao-Hong
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Taipei Medicine University Hospital, Taipei 11042, Taiwan. jasmineycs@yahoo.com.tw.
authors.forename: Yeu-Ching
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11042, Taiwan. cjtai@tmu.edu.tw.|Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Taipei Medicine University Hospital, Taipei 11042, Taiwan. cjtai@tmu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Cheng-Jeng
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Tai
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D032324:Solanum nigrum / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D010936:Plant Extracts; C505407:CASP3 protein, human; D053148:Caspase 3
keywords: MCF-7 breast cancer cells; apoptosis; aqueous extracts of Solanum nigrum (AESN); epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT); mitochondrial fission