Abyssinone V-4′ Methyl Ether, a Flavanone Isolated from Erythrina droogmansiana, Exhibits Cytotoxic Effects on Human Breast Cancer Cells by Induction of Apoptosis and Suppression of Invasion

Abstract EN

Abyssinone V-4′ methyl ether (AVME) isolated from Erythrina droogmansiana was recently reported to exhibit anti-mammary tumor effect in mice.

The present work was therefore aimed at elucidating its cellular and molecular mechanisms.

To achieve our goal, the cytotoxicity of AVME against tumoral and non-tumoral cell lines was evaluated by resazurin reduction test; flow cytometry allowed us to evaluate the cell cycle and mechanisms of cell death; the mitochondrial transmembrane potential, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and caspase activities as well as apoptosis-regulatory proteins (Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL) were measured in MDA-MB-231 cells.

Further, the antimetastatic potential of AVME was evaluated by invasion assay.

AVME exhibited cytotoxic effects in all tested tumor cell lines and induced a significant increase in the percentage of MDA-MB-231 cells at G2/M and S phases of the cell cycle in a concentration-dependent manner.

AVME also induced apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 cells, which was accompanied by the activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9 and downregulation of Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL proteins.

Moreover, AVME suppressed cancer cell invasion by the inhibition of the metalloproteinase-9 activity.

Findings from this study suggest that AVME has anti-breast cancer activities expressed through mitochondrial proapoptotic pathway including impairment of aggressive behaviors of breast cancer cells.