Molecular investigation of the individual and combined effects of polyphenolic components on breast cancer cell lines of aggressive types

Breast cancer is the most common cancer of women with the most aggressive subtypes being highly observed among younger women. There may be no targeted therapies available or resistances commonly occur. Another challenge in treatment is intra-tumoral heterogeneity or the ability of tumors substituting the active pathways in order to survive. Therefore, novel therapeutic approaches effective on various subtypes and subtypes unresponsive to therapy without showing adverse effects are essential. Since polyphenolic compounds can impact a wide range of pathways without inducing any side effects, it was aimed to compose a phenolic compound cocktail (PK) effective on different aggressive cancer types. The cytotoxic impacts of various phenolic compounds on triple negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 and ER/PR- HER2+ cell line SKBR-3 were investigated in a time and dose dependent manner using WST-1 assay, and a cocktail was composed accordingly. The cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of the PK were demonstrated utilizing WST-1 and Annexin V-7AAD assays. Which apoptotic mechanisms and cell cycle related pathways with the application of the 20% dose of the PK were induced at the 0th and 48th hours was determined utilizing the RT-PCR method. Expressional alterations were calculated using B2M as an endogenous control and the fold changes between the 0th and 48th hours were compared. Expressional alterations in apoptotic and cell cycle related key genes were observed in both cell lines. Applied PK was found effective on both cell lines. Therefore it can be suggested that utilization of appropriate phenolic compound mixtures may be beneficial.