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Some medicinal herbs and compounds are known to target cancer cells, but the success of them as anticancer compounds depends to a large extent on their ability to activate pathways that kill cancer cells by arresting cell cycle and inducing apoptosis. The aim of the present study was to determine the anticancer effects of Euphorbia szovitsii Fisch. & C.A.Mey. on the breast cancer cells to reveal the underlying mechanism of its anti-breast cancer properties. In this experimental study, triple negative breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231) was cultivated in RPMI-1640 medium. Hydroalcoholic extract (70:30) of aerial parts of the plant was prepared. The cultured cells were treated with different concentrations (0-1000 μg/ml) of E. szovitsii extract for 24 and 48 h. Toxicity of the extract on MDA-MB-231 cells was examined using MTT (3-[4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl]-2, 5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) test. The Annexin V-FITC Apoptosis Detection Kit was used to evaluate apoptosis and necrosis. Flow cytometry technique was employed to differentiate different phases of the cell cycle in the cells. Data were analyzed by GraphPad Prism and SPSS software. After 24 and 48 h, the IC50 values were respectively 76.78 (95% CI = 60.75-97.05; R = 0.8588) and 59.71 (95% CI = 46.25-77.09; R = 0.8543) μg/ml for E. szovitsii The extract exhibited antiproliferative effects against MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Annexin V-FITC/PI assay confirmed that the extract was able to induce apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 cells. Moreover, treatment with the extract resulted in cell cycle arrest at G1 phase. Therefore, E. szovitsii could induce apoptosis and cycle arrest in the MDA-MB-231 cell line. It might be a good resource of natural products for producing anti-breast cancer drugs., (© 2019 The Author(s).)

Purpose Cancer disease is the second cause of death in the world. Nowa days, high percentage of drugs, which are involved in treatment of cancers, have natural origin. Introduction of microalgae strains as anti-cancer drugs origin is a valuable approach for cancer therapy. Methods In the present study we describe the isolation, characterization, and anti-proliferative activity of a new microalga strain (Picochlorum sp. RCC486) from Iran. The cytotoxic activity of four different algal extracts including methanol, ethyl acetate, chloroform, and hexane were evaluated against MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, Hep-G2, and A-549 cell liens. Cell viability was determined using MTT assay in both monolayer and spheroids 3D cultures. The apoptosis was confirmed by different methods such as AO/EB and Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining, caspase-3 colorimetric assay, ROS and MMP assay. Results The results of MTT assay and fluorescent double staining confirmed that methanol and ethyl acetate extracts showed the best cytotoxic activity against the cancer cell lines. The production of ROS, caspase-3 activity and depolarized MMP were quite significant in MDA-MB-231 cell line treated with methanol and ethyl acetate extracts. Conclusion In this research we revealed that cytotoxicity and apoptotic effects of the methanol and ethyl acetate extracts in human cancer cells make them good candidates for further pharmacological studies to discover effective drugs for cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scutellaria multicaulis is a medicinal plant indigenous to Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. It has been widely used as a prominent herb in traditional medicine for thousands of years. This plant is reported to contain baicalein, wogonin, and chrysin flavonoids, which are a significant group of chemical ingredients which can cure different diseases, such as breast cancer. S. multicaulis leaf extract was used for the bioreduction of silver nanoparticles (SmL-Ag-NPs), and their phytochemical contents and antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-proliferative, and apoptotic activity were evaluated. Optimal physicochemical properties of SmL-Ag-NPs were obtained by mixing 5% of leaf extract and 2 mM of aqueous AgNO3 solution and confirmed by characterization studies including UV–visible spectrophotometry, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), zeta potential, Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), X-ray crystallography (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. SmL-Ag-NPs exhibited a higher content of total phenol and total flavonoid and potential antioxidant activity. SmL-Ag-NPs also demonstrated dose-dependent cytotoxicity against MDA-MB231 cell multiplication with an IC50 value of 37.62 μg/mL through inducing cell apoptosis. Results show that SmL-Ag-NPs is effective at inhibiting the proliferation of MDA-MB231 cells compared to tamoxifen. This demonstrates that SmL-Ag-NPs could be a bio-friendly and safe strategy to develop new cancer therapies with a reduction in the adverse effects of chemotherapy in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Allium species are magnificently nutritious and are commonly used as a part of the diet in Iran. They have health enhancing benefits including anticancer properties due to the presence of numerous bioactive compounds. Herein, we investigated in vitro and in vivo anticancer properties of Allium bakhtiaricum extracts. Methods: Anti-growth activity of different fractions was explored in vitro on different cancerous cells using MTT assay, Annexin V/PI and SA-β-gal staining, Western blotting, flowcytometric and immunofluorescence microscopic evaluations. In vivo antitumor activity was investigated in BALB/c mice bearing 4 T1 mammary carcinoma cells. Results: We demonstrated that chloroformic and ethyl acetate fractions exert cytotoxic activity toward MDA-MB-231 cells, the most sensitive cell line, after 72 h of treatment with IC50 values of 0.005 and 0.006 mg/ml, respectively. Incubation of MDA-MB-231 cells with ¼ and ½ IC50-72h concentrations of each fraction resulted in a significant G2/M cell cycle arrest. ¼ IC50-72h concentration of the chloroform fraction led to the disruption of polymerization in mitotic microtubules. Exposure of human breast cancer cells to different concentrations of the extracts at different incubation times did not induce apoptosis, autophagy or senescence. Our in vivo study revealed that administration of the chloroform extract at a dose of 1 mg/kg/day strongly suppressed mammary tumor progression and decreased the number of proliferative cells in the lung tissues indicating its anti-metastatic effect. Conclusion: Our findings imply that the chloroform fraction of Allium bakhtiaricum possesses the suppressive action on breast cancer through mitotic cell cycle arrest suggesting a mechanism associated with disturbing microtubule polymerization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide. Developing drugs increase the radiosensitivity effect of tumoral tissue, while protecting normal tissues has gained much attention. Ginsenoside Rg3, one of the active components of ginseng, has been shown to possess various pharmacological effects and antiproliferation activity on cancer cell lines. In this study, we assessed the anti-cancer effect of co-treatment with ginsenoside 20(S)-Rg3 and curcumin on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells with and without radiotherapy., Methods: MTT assay was applied using different concentrations of ginsenoside 20(S)-Rg3 (0, 10, 80, 150 µmol/l) and curcumin (0, 10, 30, 50, 90 µg/mL). The inhibitory effect of co-treatment with these herbal drugs with and without 4 Gy radiotherapy on the MDA-MB-231 cell line was examined. Flow cytometry was applied to measure the effect of co-treatment of the drugs on radiation-induced apoptosis. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests. P values<0.05 were considered statistically significant., Results: The results of the MTT assay showed that ginsenoside 20(S)-Rg3 and curcumin had an inhibitory effect on the MDA-MB-231 cell line in a concentration-dependent manner. Ginsenoside 20(S)-Rg3 and curcumin inhibited tumor cell development and proliferation at concentrations of 80 µmol/L and 30 μg/mL, respectively, with 50% cell viability (P=0.018, P=0.01, respectively) at 48 hour incubation time., Conclusion: Ginsenoside 20(S)-Rg3 and curcumin inhibited MDA-MB-231 cell growth in a dose- and time-dependent manner and increased the radiosensitivity of cancer cells. These herbal drugs can be considered as a radiosensitizer in radiotherapy., (Copyright: © Iranian Journal of Medical Sciences.)