IMPACT OF PHYTOCOMPOUND ON CHEMORESISTIVITY OF BREAST CANCER CELL LINE MDA-MB-231

Abstract

Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) cells lack Estrogen Receptors (ER), Progesterone Receptors (PR) and Human Epidermal Growth Factor Recepto-2 (HER-2). These breast cancer cells did not respond to HER-2 and hormonal therapy, but responds only to chemotherapy. TNBC is a highly aggressive metastatic in nature. TNBC can metastasize anywhere in body but primary metastatic sites are bone, lungs and brain where these cells cause secondary tumours. There are many hurdles in the treatment of TNBC, because of its chemoresistivity which is developed by several mechanisms and results in failure of treatment. Chemoresistance occurs due to drug efflux, ABC transporters, cancer stem cells, bulk tumour cells and tumour microenvironment etc. Understanding the mechanism of chemoresistance in TNBC cells, we can devise effective therapies for the treatment of TNBC. The project entitled, “ Impact of phytocompound on chemoresistivity of breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231” was concerned with the development of chemoresistant TNBC cells under selection pressure of 5-FU drug. The chemoresistant TNBC cells were treated with a phytocompound named as “pterostilbene” (PTER) and its cytotoxic effect was determined using MTT assay and apoptosis of the cells were checked through AO/EtBr staining. The chemoresistant TNBC cells showed toxicity upon PTER treatment. The IC50 of PTER and 5-FU for TNBC and chemoresistant TNBC cells was 68.55 and 35.32 μm respectively. The AO/EtBr assay showed that pterostilbene induced apoptosis in chemoresistant TNBC cells at 80 and 100µm concentrations. The study showed that pterostilbene can cause cytotoxicity in the chemoresistant TNBC cells and can be used as a drug to treat chemoresistant breast cancer patients. chemoresistant breast cancer patients.