Inhibitory and oxidative effects of gossypol on MCF7 Breast Cancer cells in vitro

Abstract

Human cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States and breast cancer is responsible for the second highest number of deaths in women with cancer worldwide. Today, cancer is becoming more and more resistant to current chemotherapeutic agents. In an effort to decrease this resistance, natural products like gossypol are being tested for efficacy as a natural chemotherapeutic agent with anti-cancer properties. Current literature demonstrates that gossypol is indeed an effective drug against breast cancer when used alone and when combined with other chemotherapeutic agents [1-5]. The majority of current literature focuses on the ability of gossypol to antagonize anti-apoptotic proteins like BCL-XL and induce apoptosis [6, 7]. This study helps understand previous data and goes beyond the current knowledge base and explores not only apoptosis induction, but also on other important effects like: oxidative stress, other possible avenues of cell death, growth and development, and cell cycle progression. Combining physiological, genotypic, flow cytometric and biochemical assays, a more complete understanding of gossypol's efficacy and mechanism of action can be ascertained. In past studies, the focus of gossypol's efficacy has been too narrow and currently the study of gene regulators like microRNAs (miRNAs) has not been incorporated. This study reveals evidence that miRNA may play an important role and that gossypol's efficacy is in fact a multi-component system that is interconnected in its overall mechanism of action.