Study of the apoptotic mechanism of plant extracts against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 adenocarcinoma cell lines and normal cells MCF-10A.

• Grant number: 18/21278-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2019
• End date: May 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Applied Botany
• Principal Investigator: Ivana Barbosa Suffredini
• Grantee: Ivana Barbosa Suffredini
• Host Institution: Vice-Reitoria de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação. Universidade Paulista (UNIP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• City of the host institution: São Paulo
• Associated researchers: Anuska Marcelino Alvares Saraiva

Abstract

Breast cancer affects most of the world's female population in Brazil, following non-melanoma skin cancer. Plant extracts from the Amazon Forest are being screened for the detection of cytotoxic agents against diseases such as breast cancer. In a previous study, 15 crude extracts from Amazon plants induced MCF-7 cells to apoptosis (Aguiar, 2017). Tumor cell resistance and apoptosis is an essential feature for the development of cancer. Many of the mechanisms of growth control are linked to apoptosis. The aim of the present work is to fractionate the extract and evaluate the fractions according to their capacity of inducing apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. The evaluation of cell death is going to be evaluated by the use of Annexin V and 7-AAD, and the evaluation od cell arrest by the use of 7-AAD, by flux cytometry. The Wound healing test will be done in order to evaluate cell migration and the determination of the percentage of celll migration according to time and plant extract or fraction concentration. The gene expression assay for the Bax, Bid, Bcl-2, Mcl-1, and p53 genes will be performed to identify the metabolic activity of each group in its pro and anti-apoptotic genes involved in the apoptosis process. The immunoenzymatic assay for caspases 3, 8 and 9 will quantify the proteins involved in signaling and in cellular metabolism in the intrinsic apoptotic context during chemical treatments. The study will allow us to identify, for the first time, a natural product that induces apoptosis in the plant species. (AU)