Molecules, Vol. 25, Pages 426: Thymoquinone Enhances Paclitaxel Anti-Breast Cancer Activity via Inhibiting Tumor-Associated Stem Cells Despite Apparent Mathematical Antagonism

Molecules, Vol. 25, Pages 426: Thymoquinone Enhances Paclitaxel Anti-Breast Cancer Activity via Inhibiting Tumor-Associated Stem Cells Despite Apparent Mathematical Antagonism Molecules doi: 10.3390/molecules25020426 Authors: Hanan A. Bashmail Aliaa A. Alamoudi Abdulwahab Noorwali Gehan A. Hegazy Ghada M. Ajabnoor Ahmed M. Al-Abd Thymoquinone (TQ) has shown substantial evidence for its anticancer effects. Using human breast cancer cells, we evaluated the chemomodulatory effect of TQ on paclitaxel (PTX). TQ showed weak cytotoxic properties against MCF-7 and T47D breast cancer cells with IC50 values of 64.93 ± 14 µM and 165 ± 2 µM, respectively. Combining TQ with PTX showed apparent antagonism, increasing the IC50 values of PTX from 0.2 ± 0.07 µM to 0.7 ± 0.01 µM and from 0.1 ± 0.01 µM to 0.15 ± 0.02 µM in MCF-7 and T47D cells, respectively. Combination index analysis showed antagonism in both cell lines with CI values of 4.6 and 1.6, respectively. However, resistance fractions to PTX within MCF-7 and T47D cells (42.3 ± 1.4% and 41.9 ± 1.1%, respectively) were completely depleted by combination with TQ. TQ minimally affected the cell cycle, with moderate accumulation of cells in the S-phase. However, a significant increase in Pre-G phase cells was observed due...
Source: Molecules - Category: Chemistry Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research