Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), the most aggressive subtype, does not respond to targeted therapy due to the lack of hormone receptors. There is an urgent need for alternative therapies, including natural product-based anti-cancer drugs, at lower cost. We investigated the impact of a Calligonum comosum L'Hér. methanolic extract (CcME) on the TNBC MDA-MB-231 cell line proliferation and related cell death mechanisms performing cell viability and cytotoxicity assays, flow cytometry to detect apoptosis and cell cycle analysis. The apoptosis-related protein array and cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay were also carried out. We showed that the CcME inhibited the TNBC cell viability, in a dose-dependent manner, with low cytotoxic effects. The CcME-treated TNBC cells underwent apoptosis, associated with a concomitant increase of apoptosis-related protein expression, including cytochrome c, cleaved caspase-3, cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21, and the anti-oxidant enzyme catalase, compared with the untreated cells. The CcME also enhanced the mitochondrial transition pore opening activity and induced G0/G1 cell growth arrest, which confirmed the cytochrome c release and the increase of the p21 expression detected in the CcME-treated TNBC cells. The CcME-treated TNBC cells resulted in intracellular ROS production, which, when blocked with a ROS scavenger, did not reduce the CcME-induced apoptosis. In conclusion, CcME exerts anti-proliferative effects against TNBC cells through the induction of apoptosis and cell growth arrest. In vivo studies are justified to verify the CcME anti-proliferative activities and to investigate any potential anti-metastatic activities of CcME against TNBC development and progression.
Keywords: Calligonum comosum; apoptosis; cell cycle; natural products; reactive oxygen species; triple-negative breast cancer.