A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Cytotoxic effects of dillapiole on MDA-MB-231 cells involve the induction of apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway by inducing an oxidative stress while altering the cytoskeleton network
Authors: Ferreira AK, de-Sá-Júnior PL, Pasqualoto KF, de Azevedo RA, Câmara DA, Costa AS, Figueiredo CR, Matsuo AL, Massaoka MH, Auada AV, Lebrun I, Damião MC, Tavares MT, Magri FM, Kerkis I, Parise Filho R
Publication year: 2014
Journal: Biochimie
Journal name in source: Biochimie
Journal acronym: Biochimie
Volume: 99
First page : 195
Last page: 207
Number of pages: 13
ISSN: 0300-9084
eISSN: 1638-6183
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biochi.2013.12.008
Breast cancer is the world's leading cause of death among women. This situation imposes an urgent development of more selective and less toxic agents. The use of natural molecular fingerprints as sources for new bioactive chemical entities has proven to be a quite promising and efficient method. Here, we have demonstrated for the first time that dillapiole has broad cytotoxic effects against a variety tumor cells. For instance, we found that it can act as a pro-oxidant compound through the induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) release in MDA-MB-231 cells. We also demonstrated that dillapiole exhibits anti-proliferative properties, arresting cells at the G0/G1 phase and its antimigration effects can be associated with the disruption of actin filaments, which in turn can prevent tumor cell proliferation. Molecular modeling studies corroborated the biological findings and suggested that dillapiole may present a good pharmacokinetic profile, mainly because its hydrophobic character, which can facilitate its diffusion through tumor cell membranes. All these findings support the fact that dillapiole is a promising anticancer agent.
Downloadable publication This is an electronic reprint of the original article. |