Fucoxanthin Holds Potential to Become a Drug Adjuvant in Breast Cancer Treatment: Evidence from 2D and 3D Cell Cultures.
Fernanda MalhãoAna Catarina MacedoCarla CostaEduardo RochaAlice Abreu RamosPublished in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) (2021)
Fucoxanthin (Fx) is a carotenoid derived from marine organisms that exhibits anticancer activities. However, its role as a potential drug adjuvant in breast cancer (BC) treatment is still poorly explored. Firstly, this study investigated the cytotoxic effects of Fx alone and combined with doxorubicin (Dox) and cisplatin (Cis) on a panel of 2D-cultured BC cell lines (MCF7, SKBR3 and MDA-MB-231) and one non-tumoral cell line (MCF12A). Fucoxanthin induced cytotoxicity against all the cell lines and potentiated Dox cytotoxic effects towards the SKBR3 and MDA-MB-231 cells. The combination triggering the highest cytotoxicity (Fx 10 µM + Dox 1 µM in MDA-MB-231) additionally showed significant induction of cell death and genotoxic effects, relative to control. In sequence, the same combination was tested on 3D cultures using a multi-endpoint approach involving bioactivity assays and microscopy techniques. Similar to 2D cultures, the combination of Fx and Dox showed higher cytotoxic effects on 3D cultures compared to the isolated compounds. Furthermore, this combination increased the number of apoptotic cells, decreased cell proliferation, and caused structural and ultrastructural damages on the 3D models. Overall, our findings suggest Fx has potential to become an adjuvant for Dox chemotherapy regimens in BC treatment.
Keyphrases
- cell cycle arrest
- cell death
- breast cancer cells
- induced apoptosis
- cell proliferation
- pi k akt
- early stage
- emergency department
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- high throughput
- risk assessment
- adverse drug
- squamous cell carcinoma
- oxidative stress
- stem cells
- drug delivery
- signaling pathway
- single cell
- high resolution
- mesenchymal stem cells
- electron microscopy