Anti-Cancer Effects of the Ethyl Acetate Fraction From Opuntia humifusa on Human Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells. (PubMed, Integr Cancer Ther)
Western blot analysis revealed that Akt, ERK1/2, integrin β1, HIF-1α, MMP-9, MMP-7, CDK2, cyclin A2, pro-caspase-9, pro-caspase-8, pro-caspase-3, and lamin A/C were decreased in a dose-dependent manner, whereas Smac/DIABLO, cleaved caspase-9, cleaved caspase-8, and cleaved caspase-3 were increased in a concentration-dependent manner, indicating downregulation of proliferation, activation of upstream signal transduction influencing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, deactivation of metastasis, induction of cell cycle arrest at the S and G2/M phases, and activation of intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways. These findings suggest that the ethyl acetate fraction of O. humifusa induces apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and anti-metastasis as well as contributing to upstream signal transduction of anti-proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle arrest in human triple-negative breast cancer cells.