Platycodin D from Platycodonis Radix enhances the anti-proliferative effects of doxorubicin on breast cancer MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

It has been demonstrated that platycodin D (PD) exhibits anti-cancer activities. This study aims to investigate the anti-proliferative effects of the combination of PD and doxorubicin (DOX) on human breast cancer cells (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells).

METHODS:

The anti-proliferative effects of different dosages of PD, DOX, and PD + DOX on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were determined by the MTT assay. The 10 μM PD, 5 μM DOX, and 10 μM PD + 5 μM DOX induced-protein expression of apoptosis-related molecules on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were detected by western blot. The 10 μM PD, 5 μM DOX and 10 μM PD + 5 μM DOX-induced mitochondrial membrane potential changes on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were stained with JC-1 before visual determination. The intracellular accumulations of DOX, induced by 10 μM PD, 5 μM DOX and 10 μM PD + 5 μM DOX, were detected by flow cytometry.

RESULTS:

PD enhanced anti-cancer activities of DOX were observed in both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines. Compared with mono treatment, the combined treatment increased the protein expression of cleaved poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase and decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential. The combined treatment with PD did not obviously increase the accumulation of DOX in MCF-7 cells (1.66 ± 0.13 in DOX-treated group, and 1.69 ± 0.06 in PD + DOX-treated group, P = 0.76), but it significantly increased the accumulation of DOX in MDA-MB-231 cells (1.76 ± 0.17 in DOX-treated group, 2.09 ± 0.02 in PD + DOX-treated group, P = 0.027).

CONCLUSION:

The combined treatment of DOX and PD exhibited stronger anti-proliferative effects on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells than DOX and PD treatment did.

• Authors: Zheng-Hai Tang, Ting Li, Hong-Wei Gao, Wen Sun, Xiu-Ping Chen, Yi-Tao Wang, Jin-Jian Lu
• Journal: Chinese medicine (Chin Med) Vol. 9 Pg. 16 ( 2014) ISSN: 1749-8546 [Print] England
• PMID: 24982689 (Publication Type: Journal Article)