Combinatorial Cytotoxic Effects of Damnacanthal and Doxorubicin against Human Breast Cancer MCF-7 Cells in Vitro
Muhammad Yusran Abdul Aziz,
Nadiah Abu,
Swee Keong Yeap,
Wan Yong Ho,
Abdul Rahman Omar,
Nor Hadiani Ismail,
Syahida Ahmad,
Mehdi R. Pirozyan,
Nadeem M. Akhtar,
Noorjahan Banu Alitheen
Affiliations
Muhammad Yusran Abdul Aziz
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Nadiah Abu
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Swee Keong Yeap
Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Wan Yong Ho
School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, Semenyih 43500, Selangor, Malaysia
Abdul Rahman Omar
Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Nor Hadiani Ismail
Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Shah Alam 40450, Selangor, Malaysia
Syahida Ahmad
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Mehdi R. Pirozyan
Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Nadeem M. Akhtar
Faculty of Industrial Sciences and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Lebuhraya Tun Razak, Kuantan 26300, Pahang, Malaysia
Noorjahan Banu Alitheen
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Despite progressive research being done on drug therapy to treat breast cancer, the number of patients succumbing to the disease is still a major issue. Combinatorial treatment using different drugs and herbs to treat cancer patients is of major interest in scientists nowadays. Doxorubicin is one of the most used drugs to treat breast cancer patients. The combination of doxorubicin to other drugs such as tamoxifen has been reported. Nevertheless, the combination of doxorubicin with a natural product-derived agent has not been studied yet. Morinda citrifolia has always been sought out for its remarkable remedies. Damnacanthal, an anthraquinone that can be extracted from the roots of Morinda citrifolia is a promising compound that possesses a variety of biological properties. This study aimed to study the therapeutic effects of damnacanthal in combination with doxorubicin in breast cancer cells. Collectively, the combination of both these molecules enhanced the efficacy of induced cell death in MCF-7 as evidenced by the MTT assay, cell cycle, annexin V and expression of apoptosis-related genes and proteins. The effectiveness of doxorubicin as an anti-cancer drug was increased upon addition of damnacanthal. These results could provide a promising approach to treat breast cancer patients.
