Background: Recent years have witnessed impressive growth in applying natural medicine in tumor treatment. Saffron is reported to elicit an inhibitory property against BC. Herein, we sought to explore the specific components and mechanistic basis of saffron's anti-breast carcinoma (BC) function.
Methods: Bioinformatics analysis was employed to analyze saffron components' anti-BC activity and screen the corresponding target genes involved in BC. Then, the roles of the main saffron ingredient quercetin in the activity of BC cells were examined using CCK-8, MTS, flow cytometry, colony formation, Transwell, and Gelatin zymogram assays. Additionally, the interactions among Quercetin, EET, and Stat3 were assessed by immunofluorescence and Western blot, and LC-MS/MS determined the levels of AA, EETs, and CYP3A. Finally, BC xenograft mouse models were established to verify the anti-BC function of Quercetin in vivo.
Results: Quercetin, the main active component of saffron, inhibited BC progression. Quercetin suppressed BC cell growth, migration, and invasion and inhibited CYP3A4 expression and activity in BC. Mechanistically, Quercetin down-regulated CYP3A4 to block the nuclear translocation of Stat3 by decreasing the metabolization of AA to EETs, thereby alleviating BC. Moreover, exogenously added EETs counteracted the anti-tumor effect of Quercetin on BC. Quercetin also inhibited the tumor growth of tumor-bearing nude mice.
Conclusion: Quercetin could inhibit the activity of CYP3A to down-regulate AA metabolites EETs, consequently hampering p-Stat3 and nuclear translocation, thus impeding BC development.
Keywords: Arachidonic acid; Breast carcinoma; Cytochrome P450 family 3 subfamily A member 4; Epoxyeicosatrienoic acids; Quercetin; Saffron.
© 2023. The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research.