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[Study on the inhibiting effects of equol on MCF-7 cells proliferation and its molecular mechanisms]
1Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha 410078, China. znxywm@163.com
Objective:
To investigate the proliferation inhibition effects of equol on human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 and explore its molecular mechanisms.
Methods:
MCF-7 cells were treated with different concentration of equol, including 0.1, 0.5, 1, 5 and 10 micromol/L. After the treatment, the proliferation rate of cells was examined by MTT method and the cell apoptosis percentage and cell cycle phase were determined by flow cytometry. The bag-1, bcl-2, VEGF, ERK1/2, p-ERK1/2, p38 and p-p38 protein were determined using Western blotting.
Results:
A dose and time effect of proliferation inhibition of equol was proved in MCF-7. The MCF-7 cell apoptosis percentage increased significantly in the groups of equol, and the cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase. The expression of bag-1, bcl-2, VEGF, p-ERK1/2 and p-p38 protein were decreased gradually with the increase concentration of equol.
Conclusion:
The equol could inhibit the proliferation of the breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and its inhibitory effect may be due to inducing apoptosis, arresting the cell cycle in G0/G1 phase, down-regulating the expression of bag-1, bcl-2, VEGF, p-ERK1/2 and p-p38 protein.
