Eupafolin inhibits breast cancer cell proliferation and induces apoptosis by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway

Wei,Jiahui; Zhang,Xuefeng; Pan,Huihao; He,Song; Yuan,Bao; Liu,Qing; Zhang,Jiabao; Ding,Yu

doi:10.3892/ol.2021.12593

Eupafolin inhibits breast cancer cell proliferation and induces apoptosis by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway

Authors:
- Jiahui Wei
- Xuefeng Zhang
- Huihao Pan
- Song He
- Bao Yuan
- Qing Liu
- Jiabao Zhang
- Yu Ding
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Affiliations: Department of Laboratory Animals, College of Animal Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130062, P.R. China, College of Animal Science and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin 130118, P.R. China, The Second Clinical School of Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine‑Zhuhai Hospital, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510120, P.R. China
Published online on: February 25, 2021 https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2021.12593
Article Number: 332
Copyright: © Wei et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Eupafolin is a flavonoid extracted from common sage. Previous studies have reported that Eupafolin has antioxidant, anti‑inflammatory, and anti‑tumor effects. However, its role in breast cancer remains unclear. The present study investigated the effects and underlying mechanism of action of Eupafolin using breast cancer cell lines. The effects of Eupafolin on breast cancer cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis and the cell cycle were determined. Cell viability and Transwell assays, reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR, flow cytometry and western blot analysis were used in this study. The data showed that the proliferation, migration and invasion ability of EO771 cells treated with Eupafolin was significantly decreased, and the apoptosis rate was increased compared with that of the control. The protein levels of Bax and cleaved caspase 3 increased, whereas that of Bcl‑2 decreased. In addition, Eupafolin treatment also caused the proliferation of breast cancer cells to be arrested at the G₀/G₁ phase. Furthermore, results from western blotting indicated that Eupafolin treatment decreased the protein levels of p‑PI3K, p‑Akt and p‑mTOR. Taken together, the present findings demonstrate that Eupafolin has a significant inhibitory effect on the proliferation of EO771 cells, inhibits cell migration and invasion, and promotes cell apoptosis, thereby causing G₀/G₁ phase arrest, at least partially through the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Therefore, the findings provide novel insights regarding the use of Eupafolin for the treatment of breast cancer.

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