title: Balsamin induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells via DNA fragmentation and cell cycle arrest.
abstract: Breast cancer is the second most common cancer causing death worldwide with metastasis and disease relapse being the major drawbacks in current treatments. Therefore, development of novel drugs is needed. Balsamin, a 28 kDa Type I ribosome-inactivating protein, is rich in the seeds of Momordica balsamina. In this study, the molecular mechanism and the possible effects of balsamin on the two key hallmarks of cancer were investigated. Firstly, the induction of apoptosis in human breast cancer MCF-7 and BT549 cells showed that balsamin-induced apoptosis involved increases in caspase-3 and caspase-8 activity, upregulation of Bax, Bid, and Bad, and downregulation of BCL-2 and BCL-XL. Furthermore, balsamin inhibited the proliferation of breast cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner with IC50values of 24.53 and 32.79 µg/ml for MCF-7 and BT549 cells, respectively. Moreover, flow cytometric analysis revealed that balsamin induced S-/G-phase cell cycle arrest. Our studies show that balsamin has anti-tumor activity and could be used as a neutraceutical for the treatment of breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Bioprocessing Laboratory, Centre for Chemistry and Biotechnology, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, 75 Pigdons Road, Locked Bag 20000, Geelong, VIC, 3220, Australia.
authors.forename: Parminder K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Ajji
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Centre for Molecular and Medical Research, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, 75 Pigdons Road, Locked Bag 20000, Geelong, VIC, 3220, Australia.
authors.forename: Marley J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Binder
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Centre for Molecular and Medical Research, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, 75 Pigdons Road, Locked Bag 20000, Geelong, VIC, 3220, Australia.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Walder
authors.affiliation: Bioprocessing Laboratory, Centre for Chemistry and Biotechnology, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, 75 Pigdons Road, Locked Bag 20000, Geelong, VIC, 3220, Australia. munish.puri@deakin.edu.au.|Centre for Marine Bioproducts Development, Medical Biotechnology, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. munish.puri@deakin.edu.au.
authors.forename: Munish
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Puri
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D053938:DNA Fragmentation / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D054788:Ribosome Inactivating Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D059807:S Phase Cell Cycle Checkpoints / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; C576086:balsamin; D054788:Ribosome Inactivating Proteins
keywords: Bioactive; Functional food and DNase activity; Neutraceutical; Toxicity