The natural isoquinoline alkaloid Berberine (BBR) has been shown to possess several therapeutic effects, including anticancer activity. Different BBR derivatives have been designed and synthesized in order to obtain new compounds with enhanced anticancer efficacy. We previously showed that intraperitoneal (IP) administration of the BBR-derived NAX014 compound was able to counteract HER-2 overexpressing mammary tumors onset and progression in transgenic mice. However, the IP administration was found to induce organ toxicity at doses higher than 2.5 mg/Kg. In this study, we evaluated the effect of intragastric (IG) administration of 20 mg/kg of NAX014 on both safety and anticancer efficacy in HER-2/neu transgenic mice. Furthermore, cancer cell dissemination and migration, tumor cell senescence and immunological changes were examined. Our results demonstrated that IG NAX014 administration delayed the onset of mammary tumors with no negative effects on health and survival. NAX014 reduced HER-2 overexpressing BC cells migration in vitro and the frequency of lung metastasis in HER-2/neu transgenic mice. A statistically significant increase of senescence-associated p16 expression was observed in tumors from NAX014-treated mice, and the induction of cell senescence was observed in HER-2 overexpressing BC cells after in vitro treatment with NAX014. Although NAX014 did not modulate the presence of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, the level of circulating TNF-α and VEGF was found to be reduced in NAX014-treated mice. The overall results address the NAX014 compound as potential tool for therapeutic strategies against HER-2 overexpressing breast cancer.
Keywords: HER-2; NAX014; TNF-α; VEGF; berberine; breast cancer; lung metastases; migration; p16; senescence.