Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza) extract inhibits proliferation of breast cancer cells via modulation of Akt activity and p27 level

• Published in: Phytotherapy research Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 198 - 204
• Main Authors: Yang, Wonseok, Ju, Ji-hyun, Jeon, Min Jeong, Han, Xiangzi, Shin, Incheol
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.02.2010; Wiley
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - drug therapy; Cell Cycle - drug effects; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Proliferation - drug effects; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p27 - metabolism; Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza); Drugs, Chinese Herbal - pharmacology; Female; General pharmacology; HER2; Humans; Medical sciences; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Phenanthrolines - pharmacology; Phosphorylation; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt - metabolism; Receptor, ErbB-2 - metabolism; Salvia miltiorrhiza - chemistry; TCM (traditional Chinese medicine); Asia; China; Cell proliferation; Breast disease; Pharmacognosy; Akt protein kinase; Breast cancer; Extract; Malignant tumor; Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza); Medicinal plant; Mammary gland diseases; Chinese medicine; Salvia miltiorrhiza; Folk medicine; Labiatae; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Plant origin; Spermatophyta; HER2; Tumor cell; TCM (traditional Chinese medicine); Cancer
• DOI: 10.1002/ptr.2945
• ISSN: 0951-418X

Danshen is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, often in combination with other herbs. To check the effect of Danshen on the proliferation of breast cancer cells, Danshen extract was used to treat MCF-7 and MCF-7 HER2 cells, the latter of which overexpresses HER2. HER2 is a receptor tyrosine kinase, and is involved in signal transduction pathways leading to tumor cell proliferation. MTT and cell proliferation assays revealed that Danshen strongly inhibited the proliferation of both MCF-7 vec cells and MCF-7 HER2 cells. Flow cytometry analyses indicated that Danshen induced cell cycle delay in the G1 phase. HER2 expression was shown to confer resistance to Danshen-induced inhibition of proliferation and cell cycle delay, suggesting that HER2 is responsible for the resistance to Danshen. Danshen treatment induced the down-regulation of Akt phosphorylation and an increase in p27 in MCF-7 vec and MCF-7 HER2 cells. Nevertheless, MCF-7 HER2 cells were more resistant to the Danshen-induced inhibition of Akt phosphorylation and p27 up-regulation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.