Tongshu capsule down-regulates the expression of estrogen receptor α and suppresses human breast cancer cell proliferation

Chengzhi Du; Zhen Li; Shuang Wang; Zhongmei Zhou; Jingkun Wang; Jian Dong; Ceshi Chen

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0104261

Tongshu capsule down-regulates the expression of estrogen receptor α and suppresses human breast cancer cell proliferation

PLoS One. 2014 Aug 7;9(8):e104261. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104261. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Chengzhi Du¹, Zhen Li², Shuang Wang¹, Zhongmei Zhou¹, Jingkun Wang³, Jian Dong², Ceshi Chen¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of Chinese Academy of Sciences & Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
² First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
³ Yunnan Institute of Materia Medica, Kunming, Yunnan, China.

Abstract

The Tongshu Capsule (TSC) is a prevalent form of traditional Chinese medicine widely used for its purported effects in treating mammary gland hyperplasia and inflammation. Though successful in several clinical studies, there is no clear evidence as to why TSC has a positive treatment effect, and little known about underlying mechanism that may account for it. In this study, we examined the effects of TSC and found that it has a comparatively strong growth inhibition on ERα positive breast cancer cells. TSC seems to cause G1 cell cycle arrest instead of apoptosis. Interestingly, TSC also down-regulated the expression of ERα and Cyclin D1. Consistently, TSC suppressed E2 mediated ERα downstream gene expression and cell proliferation in ERα positive breast cancer cell lines MCF7 and T47D. Depletion of ERα partially abolished the effects of TSC on the decrease of Cyclin D1 and cell viability. Our findings suggest that TSC may have therapeutic effects on ERα positive breast cancers and moreover that TSC may suppress breast epithelial cell proliferation by inhibiting the estrogen pathway.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Breast Neoplasms* / drug therapy
Breast Neoplasms* / metabolism
Breast Neoplasms* / pathology
Cyclin D1 / metabolism
Estrogen Receptor alpha / biosynthesis*
Estrogens / metabolism
Female
G1 Phase Cell Cycle Checkpoints / drug effects*
Gene Expression Regulation / drug effects*
Humans
Medicine, Chinese Traditional*
Signal Transduction / drug effects*

Substances

CCND1 protein, human
ESR1 protein, human
Estrogen Receptor alpha
Estrogens
Cyclin D1

Grants and funding

This study was partially funded by Yunnan Institute of Materia Medica, which is the manufacturer of Tongshu Capsule. This funder provided support in the form of salaries for author JW, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, orpreparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section. This study was also supported in part by National Nature Science Foundation of China (81120108019, U1132605, and 81325016), and a grant from the Yunnan Province High-Profile Scientist Program (2010CI114). These funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.