Effects of Wild Yam Root (Dioscorea villosa) Extract on the Gene Expression Profile of Triple-negative Breast Cancer Cells.

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIM:

Wild yam extract [Dioscorea villosa, (WYE)] is consistently lethal at low IC50s across diverse cancer-lines in vitro. Unlike traditional anti-cancer botanicals, WYE contains detergent saponins which reduce oil-water interfacial tensions causing disintegration of lipid membranes and causing cell lysis, creating an interfering variable. Here, we evaluate WYE at sub-lethal concentrations in MDA-MB-231 triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Quantification of saponins, membrane potential, lytic death and sub-lethal WYE changes in whole transcriptomic (WT) mRNA, miRNAs and biological parameters were evaluated.

RESULTS:

WYE caused 346 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) out of 48,226 transcripts tested; where up-regulated DEGS reflect immune stimulation, TNF signaling, COX2, cytokine release and cholesterol/steroid biosynthesis. Down-regulated DEGs reflect losses in cell division cycle (CDC), cyclins (CCN), cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), centromere proteins (CENP), kinesin family members (KIFs) and polo-like kinases (PLKs), which were in alignment with biological studies.

CONCLUSION:

Sub-lethal concentrations of WYE appear to evoke pro-inflammatory, steroid biosynthetic and cytostatic effects in TNBC cells.

• Authors: Elizabeth Mazzio, Abdulaziz Almalki, Selina F Darling-Reed, Karam F A Soliman
• Journal: Cancer genomics & proteomics (Cancer Genomics Proteomics) 2021 Nov-Dec Vol. 18 Issue 6 Pg. 735-755 ISSN: 1790-6245 [Electronic] Greece
• PMID: 34697066 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright© 2021, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Plant Extracts

Topics

• Dioscorea (chemistry)
• Gene Expression (genetics)
• Humans
• Plant Extracts (chemistry)
• Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms (diet therapy)