Purpose: The present study concerns molecular mechanisms involved in induction of apoptosis by a fungal taxol extracted from the fungus Cladosporium oxysporum in T47D human breast cancer cells.
Materials and methods: Apoptosis-induced by the fungal taxol was assessed by MTT assay, nuclear staining, DNA fragmentation, flow cytometry and pro- as well as anti-apoptotic protein expression by Western blotting.
Results: Our results showed inhibition of T47D cell proliferation with an IC50 value of 2.5 μM/ml after 24 h incubation. It was suggested that the extract may exert its anti-proliferative effect on human breast cancer cell line by suppressing growth, arresting through the cell cycle, increase in DNA fragmentation as well as down-regulation of the expression of NF-?B, Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL and up-regulation of pro-apoptotic proteins like Bax, cyt-C and caspase-3.
Conclusions: We propose that the fungal taxol contributes to growth inhibition in the human breast cancer cell through apoptosis induction via a mitochondrial mediated pathway, with possible potential as an anticancer therapeutic agent.