Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Leonurine inhibits breast cancer cell growth and angiogenesis via PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway

Junjun Tian, Lizhong Peng , Dongjie Wang

Department of General Surgery, Hubei Provincial Hospital of TCM, Wuhan City, Hubei Province 430074, China;

For correspondence:- Lizhong Peng Email: penglizhong1119@163.com Tel:+862756929530

Accepted: 27 February 2023 Published: 31 March 2023

Citation: Tian J, Peng L, Wang D. Leonurine inhibits breast cancer cell growth and angiogenesis via PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. Trop J Pharm Res 2023; 22(3):509-515 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v22i3.7

© 2023 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To elucidate the effect of leonurine on the proliferation, invasion, migration, and angiogenetic potential of breast cancer cells.

Methods: Human breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231) and normal breast cell line, (SK-BR-3) were cultured. Both cell lines were treated with 200, 400, or 800 μM leonurine and cultured for 0 (control), 24, 48, or 72 h. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) and colony formation assays were performed to measure cell viability and proliferation. Invasion and migration were evaluated using in vitro invasion and wound healing assays, respectively, while angiogenesis was evaluated by the formation of branching point structures. Furthermore, phosphorylation of PI3K, AKT, and mTOR were assessed by Western blot. Cell viability, invasion, migration, and angiogenesis were further investigated in media including 740Y-P, 800 μM leonurine, and 800 μM leonurine plus 740Y-P.

Results: Leonurine inhibited the proliferation of breast cancer cells and weakened breast cancer cell invasion, migration, and angiogenetic potential in a dose-dependent manner (p < 0.05). Furthermore, leonurine repressed PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway by reducing the phosphorylation of PI3K, AKT, and mTOR. Leonurine also inhibited breast cancer progression (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Leonurine inhibits breast cancer progression by inhibiting PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, and is thus, a potential agent for the management of breast cancer.

Keywords: Angiogenesis, Breast cancer, Cell invasion, Cell migration, Leonurine, PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway