Identification of multi-target effects of Huaier aqueous extract via microarray profiling in triple-negative breast cancer cells

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world. Long-term maintenance treatment is important for breast cancer. However, effective maintenance treatment is lacking for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has shown its potential anticancer roles as an effective maintenance treatment for TNBC. However its mechanisms remained unclear. In this study, we detected the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) after treatment with Huaier aqueous extract by using microarray profiling in MDA-MB-231 cells. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis and gene-gene interaction network were conducted to confirm the altered biological functions induced by Huaier extract. Screening of DEGs gave 387 genes (226 upregulated and 161 downregulated) in MDA-MB-231 cells which were regulated significantly by Huaier extract. GO and KEGG pathway analysis suggested that a number of functions were affected by Huaier, including proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and angiogenesis. Gene-gene interaction network showed the detailed molecular signal-net. Based on microarray data, we studied several functions of Huaier extract and in return verified the results of microarray profiling. This study had important guidance roles and indicated new research directions.