Evaluation of aurora kinase protein level alterations in flavonoid mixture treated MCF7 cells

Breast cancer is the main cause of cancer-related deaths in women. Expression levels of the cell cycle regulators are frequently altered in tumors. Aurora kinases(AKs) have several functions in the cell cycle and are shown to be overexpressed in various cancers including breast. In pre-clinical studies, AK-inhibitors were shown to have antitumoral properties, however, they also had serious side effects. Lately, the focus has been on natural AK-inhibiting compounds. In this thesis, the cell line modeling Luminal-A type breast cancer, MCF7, was treated with a Flavonoid cocktail(FC) at specific doses and times. Following the treatment, WST-1 method, Cell Cycle kit and Western blotting methods were used to evaluate the cytotoxic effect, to perform cell cycle analysis and to evaluate the expression levels of AURKA and B proteins, respectively. The most effective dose was found to be 10%. There were almost no remaining cells with 35% at the 24thhour. Of the untreated MCF7 cells 70% were in the G2/M phase, while cells treated with 10% were in the S phase following the 24thhour and at the 48thhour major amount were in the G0/G1 phase. Treatment of 10% induced a significant decrease in AURKA protein expression at the 48thhour(p<0.005). Moreover, a significant down-regulation AURKB expression was observed with 35%. Since, flavonoids act on multiple targets and mechanisms, they may be favorable agents in cancer prevention and treatment. Future investigations should aim to establish safe, effective and affordable therapeutic approaches to cancer with particular combinations of these natural compounds with minimal side effects.