1. Effects of quercetin on the proliferation of breast cancer cells and expression of survivin in vitro.
- Author
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XIAO-HUI DENG, HAI-YAN SONG, YING-FENG ZHOU, GUO-YAN YUAN, and FENG-JIN ZHENG
- Subjects
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QUERCETIN , *BREAST cancer research , *CANCER cell proliferation , *SURVIVIN (Protein) , *GENE expression , *APOPTOSIS , *IMMUNOCYTOCHEMISTRY , *POLYMERASE chain reaction , *THERAPEUTICS - Abstract
Quercetin is a hydrophobic agent with potential anticancer activity. The aim of the present study was to observe the effects of quercetin on the proliferation of the breast cancer cell line MCF-7 and the gene expression of survivin. The molecular mechanism underlying the antiproliferative effect of quercetin was also investigated. MCF-7 breast cancer cells were treated with various concentrations of quercetin. The inhibitory effect of quercetin on proliferation was detected using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method and the inhibition rate was calculated. Cellular apoptosis was detected by immunocytochemistry and survivin mRNA expression levels were observed using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Western blot analysis was used to analyze changes in the expression levels of survivin protein. Quercetin induced the apoptosis of MCF-7 cells and inhibited the proliferation of the MCF-7 breast cancer cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. The mRNA and protein expression levels of survivin were reduced as the concentration of quercetin increased. Quercetin inhibited the growth of MCF-7 cells and promoted apoptosis by inducing G0/ G1 phase arrest. It also regulated the expression of survivin mRNA in MCF-7 cells, which may be the mechanism underlying its antitumor effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2013
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