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Updated: Feb 1, 2026

Comparison of Three Different Methods for Determining Cell Proliferation in Breast Cancer Cell Lines
Published on: September 3, 2016
Madhuca indica Inhibits Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation by Modulating COX-2 Expression
Paramita Ghosh1, Debarpan Mitra1, Sreyashi Mitra1
1Department of Signal Transduction and Biogenic Amines, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, 37, S.P. Mukherjee Road, Kolkata-700026, India.
Background:
Madhuca indica belongs to the family sapotaceae, commonly known as Mahua. It is primarily known for alcoholic beverage production and is reported to have anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic properties. Madhuca indica has also been reported to be effective in several diseases.
Objective:
This study was undertaken to check the anticancer efficacy and chemopreventive effect of methanolic extract of Mahua flower (ME) on human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468.
Method:
The cytotoxic and anti-proliferative effects on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 cells were studied by MTT, hexosaminidase and colony formation assay. Expression of caspase 3/7 was assessed by flow cytometry and western blot analysis. Expression of COX-2 was evaluated by western blot analysis, luciferase assay and mRNA analysis.
Results:
ME inhibited the proliferation of breast cancer cells by inducing apoptosis through up-regulating the expression of Caspase 3/7 (P < 0.0001). Our results showed a decrease in the expression of COX-2 mRNA and COX-2 protein in both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 cells with an increase in ME concentration. Furthermore synergistic effect of ME and chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel was also studied in MCF-7 and MDA-MB- 468 cells which were found to be more effective (P < 0.0001) than treatment of either ME or paclitaxel alone. Results were analyzed by ANOVA and Pearson correlation analysis.
Conclusion:
All these experiments suggest that ME inhibits breast cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis by inhibiting the expression of COX-2 in MCF-7 and MDAMB- 468 cells. This work further highlighted that ME may enhance the potentiality of paclitaxel in breast cancer treatment.
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