Effect of Marsdenia tenacissima extract on G2/M cell cycle arrest by upregulating 14-3-3σ and downregulating c-myc in vitro and in vivo

Marsdenia tenacissima extract (MTE) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine with anti-cancer activity. In some previous studies, different mechanism actions of the anti-cancer effect of MTE have been revealed. In this study, we first observed that MTE exhibited G2/M cell cycle arrest on two different human breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 by mediating 14-3-3σ and c-myc. The effect of MTE on G2/M cell cycle arrest was evaluated in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cell lines. MTT assay was done for evaluation of cell viability. Flow cytometry was employed for cell cycle analysis. Western blotting analysis and immunohistochemistry were performed to analyze the expression of G2/M cell cycle-related key protein in cells and tissue samples. Animal studies have been conducted to elucidate the anti-tumor effect of MTE. Cell cycle is the backbone for developing cancer. Cell cycle proteins play a major role in the progression of cell cycle and cell proliferation. However, some key protein directly or indirectly modulate the action of cell cycle protein that highly affect cell cycle regulation. In order to investigate cellular proliferation of cancer, we observed that MTE induced the upregulation of 14-3-3σ and downregulation of c-myc, and then reduced the expression of G2/M cell cycle associated key protein, leading to the inhibition of cellular entry into mitosis phase. We also confirmed that MTE exerted a significant antitumor effect on the MDA-MB-231 xenograft model in vivo. G2/M cell cycle arrest occurred by the action of MTE, mediated by the upregulation of 14-3-3σ as well as downregulation of c-myc in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cell lines.