Xiaotan Jieyu Prescription Alleviates Breast Precancerous Lesions through PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway

Traditional Chinese Medicine for Breast Cancer: A Review

A total of 18% of global breast cancer (BC) deaths are attributed to BC in China, making it one of the five most common cancers there. There has been a steady rise in BC morbidity and mortality in women in the last few years and it is now a leading cancer among Chinese women. Conventional treatments for BC are currently effective but have several limitations and disadvantages, and Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) plays a vital role in the overall process of cancer prevention and therapy. It is known that TCM can treat a variety of conditions at a variety of sites and targets. In recent years, increasingly, research has been conducted on TCM's ability to treat BC. TCM has shown positive results in the treatment of breast cancer and the adverse effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. This review describes the progress of clinical observation and mechanism research of TCM in the treatment of breast cancer in recent years. It provides some ideas and theoretical basis for the treatment of BC with TCM.

To explore immune synergistic function of Quercetin in inhibiting breast cancer cells

Background

The precancerous disease of breast cancer is an inevitable stage in the tumorigenesis and development of breast neoplasms. Quercetin (Que) has shown great potential in breast cancer treatment by inhibiting cell proliferation and regulating T cell function. γδ T cells are a class of nontraditional T cells that have long attracted attention due to their potential in immunotherapy. In this study, we revealed the immunomodulatory function of Que through regulation of the JAK/STAT1 signaling pathway, which was followed by the synergistic killing of breast cancer cells.

Methods

In the experimental design, we first screened target genes with or without Que treatment, and we intersected the Que target with the disease target by functional enrichment analysis. Second, MCF-10A, MCF-10AT, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines were treated with Que for 0 h, 24 h and 48 h. Then, we observed the expression of its subsets by coculturing Que and γδ T cells and coculturing Que and γδ T cells with breast tumor cells to investigate their synergistic killing effect on tumor cells. Finally, Western blotting was used to reveal the changes in proteins related to the JAK/STAT1 signaling pathway after Que treatment in MCF-10AT and MCF-7 cells for 48 h.

Results

The pathway affected by Que treatment was the JAK/STAT1 signaling pathway and was associated with precancerous breast cancer, as shown by network pharmacology analysis. Que induced apoptosis of MCF-10AT, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner (P < 0.05). Most importantly, Que promoted the differentiation of γδ T cells into the Vδ2 T cell subpopulation. The best ratio of effector cells to target cells (E/T) was 10:1, the killing percentages of γδ T cells against MCF-10A, MCF-10AT, MCF-7, and MDA-MB-231 were 61.44 ± 4.70, 55.52 ± 3.10, 53.94 ± 2.74, and 53.28 ± 1.73 (P = 0.114, P = 0.486, and P = 0.343, respectively), and the strongest killing effect on precancerous breast cancer cells and breast cancer cells was found when the Que concentration was 5 μM and the E/T ratio was 10:1 (64.94 ± 3.61, 64.96 ± 5.45, 55.59 ± 5.98, and 59.04 ± 5.67, respectively). In addition, our results showed that Que increased the protein levels of IFNγ-R, p-JAK2 and p-STAT1 while decreasing the protein levels of PD-L1 (P < 0.0001).

Conclusions

In conclusion, Que plays a synergistic role in killing breast cancer cells and promoting apoptosis by regulating the expression of IFNγ-R, p-JAK2, p-STAT1 and PD-L1 in the JAK/STAT1 signaling pathway and promoting the regulation of γδ T cells. Que may be a potential drug for the prevention of precancerous breast cancer and adjuvant treatment of breast cancer.