Oncostatic treatment effect of triple negative breast cancer cell line with copper (I)-nicotinate complex

The treatment of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains a major challenge. The present study aimed to throw more light on the role of copper (I)-nicotinate complex (CNC) as an antitumor as well as a proapoptotic agent. In this study, the HCC-1806 cell line was used as a model for TNBC. Cell cycle, apoptosis assay, and programmed cell death protein-1 were investigated by flowcytometry. Besides, the comet assay was performed using a fluorescence microscope. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique was used for the detection of phospho-Chk1 at ser 317 and caspase-3. Moreover, the gene expression of survivin was identified by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Finally, superoxide dismutase (SOD) was calorimetrically assayed. The viability of HCC-1806 cells treated with CNC was decreased in a dose-dependent manner. The tendency for apoptotic machinery was observed through the increase in the sub G0 peak, the percentage of early and late apoptotic phases, and the elevation in caspase-3 levels associated with a downregulation of the survivin gene expression. The antioxidant property of the complex, reflected by elevated SOD activity, may contribute to mediate the cell death pathways. Low concentrations of CNC were found to favor the apoptotis-mediated mechanism. However, one cannot neglect the abundance of cell necrosis-mediated death of cells via CNC, especially at higher concentrations.