Repurposing combination therapy of Voacamine with Vincristine for down regulation of HIF-1α/FASN co-axis and PHD2 activation in ER+ mammary neoplasia

Background The current study was attempted to inquest the role of combination therapy of Voacamine and Vincristine for the prevention of mammary gland carcinoma through prolyl hydroxylase-2 activation. The prolyl hydroxylase‐2 activation leads the downregulation of hypoxia‐inducible factor‐1α and fatty acid synthase. Over expression of hypoxia inducible factor-1α and fatty acid synthase is previously reported in solid tumor of mammary gland. Methods After screening a battery of natural compounds which were similar to vincristine, vocamine was selected as a possible prolyl hydroxylase-2 activator and justify its activity using 7, 12-Dimethylbenz[a]anthracene induced rat model. The combination therapy was evaluated for cardiac toxicity using hemodynamic profile. The angiogenic markers were evaluated using carmine staining. Monotherapy and combination therapy were also evaluated for liver and kidney toxicity through haematoxylin and eosin staining. The combination therapy also delineated the markers of oxidative stress favorably. Afterwards, the disruption of fatty acids was evaluated using gas chromatography. Results The immunoblotting analysis validated that combination therapy has a potential to switch on the prolyl hydroxylase-2 activity and thus initiate proteolytic degradation of hypoxia‐inducible factor‐1α and its consequence effects. The combination therapy also stimulated programmed cell death (apoptosis) in rapidly dividing cancer cells. Conclusion The present study explores the role of voacamine in activation of prolyl hydroxylase-2 which can decrease over expression of hypoxia‐inducible factor‐1α and fatty acid synthase in cells of mammary gland carcinoma.