The anti-malarial drug artesunate causes cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of triple-negative MDA-MB-468 and HER2-enriched SK-BR-3 breast cancer cells.
In this study, we demonstrate a dose- and time-dependent inhibitory effect of ART on the growth of triple-negative MDA-MB-468 and HER2-enriched SK-BR-3 breast cancer cells, which was the result of both anti-proliferative and cytotoxic activities. ART inhibited breast cancer cell proliferation via a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent G2/M arrest and ROS-independent G1 arrest. ART-treated MDA-MB-468 and SK-BR-3 cells also experienced apoptotic cell death, which was both ROS- and iron-dependent. ART-induced oxidative stress caused the loss of mitochondrial outer membrane integrity and damage to the cellular DNA of MDA-MB-468 and SK-BR-3 cells. In addition, exposure to low-dose ART sensitized MDA-MB-468 and SK-BR-3 cells to chemotherapeutic drugs. On the basis of our findings, we suggest that ART may have clinical utility in the treatment of triple-negative and HER2-enriched breast cancers.
PMID: 30660598 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Experimental and Molecular Pathology - Category: Pathology Authors: Greenshields AL, Fernando W, Hoskin DW Tags: Exp Mol Pathol Source Type: research
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