One of the most prevalent malignancies, which have severe effects on women's health, is breast cancer. Quercetin, a flavonoid found in vegetables, tea, and fruits, is known to have bioactive properties, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, as well as anti-cancer. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been recognized to function as primary regulators of diverse cellular processes, including differentiation, development, and cell fate. INXS and UCA1 are lncRNAs that are up regulated and down regulated respectively in cancer cells. This research aimed to assess the impact of quercetin on the expression of INXS and UCA1 genes in MCF-7 cells. Various quercetin concentrations at different times were used to treat MCF-7 cells. The cell viability and IC50 values were determined using MTT assay. Then, MCF-7 cells were incubated with various quercetin concentrations for 24, 48, and 72 h. Cell cycle analyses were evaluated by flow cytometry. The levels of INXS and UCA1 gene expression compared with the GAPDH gene at different concentrations of quercetin were quantified using real-time PCR method. Based on the results, quercetin exerted a dose- and time-dependent inhibitory impact on the viability of MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, quercetin induced cell cycle arrest at the G2 phase in MCF-7 cells. Also, quercetin induced INXS upregulation and UCA1 downregulation in the MCF-7 cell line. These data suggest that quercetin might increase cell death by up regulating INXS and down regulating UCA1 lncRNAs in MCF-7 cells.
Keywords: Breast cancer; INXS; MCF-7 cells; UCA1; quercetin.