title: Flavonoid C-glucosides Derived from Flax Straw Extracts Reduce Human Breast Cancer Cell Growth In vitro and Induce Apoptosis.
abstract: Flax straw of flax varieties that are grown for oil production is a by product which represents a considerable biomass source. Therefore, its potential application for human use is of high interest. Our research has revealed that flax straw is rich in flavonoid C-glucosides, including vitexin, orientin, and isoorientin. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity and possible proapoptotic effect of flax straw derived C-glucosides of flavonoids in the human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7). The effects of flax straw derived flavonoid C-glucosides on cell proliferation of MCF-7 cells were evaluated by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and sulforhodamine B assays. The expression of apoptosis-related genes was assessed by real-time PCR. Our data revealed that flax C-glucosides as well as pure compounds are cytotoxic toward MCF-7 cells and inhibit their proliferation. Moreover, the induction of apoptosis was correlated with the changes in the mRNA level of pro-apoptotic genes. Increased expression of bax and caspase-7, -8, and -9 and decreased mRNA expression of bcl-2 was observed, whereas the mRNA levels of p53 and mdm2 were not altered. These results clearly demonstrated that flax straw metabolites effectively induced growth inhibition and apoptosis in human breast adenocarcinoma cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physico-Chemistry of Microorganisms, Institute of Genetics and Microbiology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław Poland.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Czemplik
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław Poland.
authors.forename: Justyna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mierziak
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wrocław, WrocławPoland; Linum Foundation, WrocławPoland; Department of Genetics, Plant Breeding and Seed Production, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, WrocławPoland.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Szopa
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kulma
keywords: MCF-7; apoptosis; flavonoid C-glucosides; flax straw; human breast carcinoma cells