Key result
Beta-glucan combined with doxorubicin upregulates protective genes, potentially reducing doxorubicin cytotoxicity in MCF-7 cells.
Why the study?
The effects of β-glucan from S. cerevisiae on cell viability and gene expression related to cell cycle, apoptosis, and antioxidant response in cancer cells were investigated to understand its chemopreventive properties and interaction with doxorubicin.
Does β-glucan combined with doxorubicin affect cell viability and gene expression in MCF-7 cells?
Does β-glucan combined with doxorubicin affect cell viability and gene expression in MCF-7 cells?
p-value: p=<0.05
β-glucan may reduce the efficacy of doxorubicin in killing MCF-7 breast cancer cells by upregulating antioxidant and cell cycle genes.
Does not support clinical use of βG with Dox; leaves open its modulation of CCNA2 in vitro.
β-Glucans (βG) are polysaccharides widely distributed in nature with chemopreventive properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of βG and the combined treatment with doxorubicin (Dox) on cell viability and mRNA levels of genes involved in cell cycle, apoptosis and antioxidant response. βG was not cytotoxic. The mRNA levels of CCNA2 of cells exposed to β-glucan was upregulated and the exposure to Dox decreased the expression, while the combination led to an upregulation. Modulation of mRNA levels of CASP9 suggest that βG could inhibit promotion and progression steps of carcinogenesis, eliminating neoplastic cells. The upregulation of CCNA2 gene in combined treatment could be occurred due to ability of βG in restoring the cell cycle distribution pattern after treatment with Dox. The upregulation of SOD1 suggests that βG can enhance the intracellular antioxidant defense, reducing the levels of superoxide dismutase induced by Dox. This response could reduce oxidative damage and attenuate tissue damage during chemotherapeutic treatment. Our data suggest that the drug combination may be less effective in killing tumor cells than the treatment with Dox alone. Thus, future studies should carefully consider this effect on indication of βG during chemotherapy
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Carreira et al. (2022) studied Human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7 cells). beta-glucan and doxorubicin vs. Control (untreated cells) or doxorubicin alone was evaluated on Gene expression of CCNA2, CASP9, and SOD1 (p=<0.05). The combination of beta-glucan and doxorubicin upregulated CCNA2 and SOD1 gene expression in MCF-7 cells, suggesting the combination may be less effective in killing tumor cells than doxorubicin alone.
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