Objectives: The present study evaluated the protein-based analysis to unravel the role and mechanism behind the Dendropthae falcata plant extract treatment in breast cancer cells.
Materials and methods: The protein sample was extracted from the cancer cells after treatment with the plant extract and subjected to two-dimensional electrophoresis for protein separation. Further, the proteins that were differentially regulated among the samples which were treated and non-treated were selected and processed further for protein identification using a tandem mass spectrometry approach.
Results: Using these strategies, we identified 16 potential candidates which were showing remarkable changes in treated samples. All the candidates were analyzed further for gene ontology analysis, and it was observed that all proteins were involved in multiple pathways pertaining to the carcinogenesis process. Specifically, apoptotic pathway proteins including BAD, BIK, BID, CASP8, MCL1, BCL2, and BAK1 were highly impacted by treatment with D. falcata plant extract. All these protein hits were further taken for validation experiments using RT PCR analysis.
Conclusion: Initiation of these apoptotic proteins by D. falcata plant extract treatment in breast cancer cells shows a positive direction toward nature-based alternative medicine.
Keywords: 2D-gel electrophoresis; Breast cancer cell line; Dendropthae falcate; Mass spectrometry; Medicinal plant; Proteomics.