Homeira Khaneshpour - Department of Microbiology, Ahar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahar, Iran
Behboud Jafari - Department of Microbiology, Ahar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahar, Iran

Background and Aim : : One of the most common cancers in women is breast cancer, which has been on the rise in recent years. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the effects of ethanolic extract of saffron petals on apoptosis and altered expression of BAX and BCL۲ genes in MCF-۷ breast cancer cell line.Methods : In this laboratory study, the effect of ethanolic extract of saffron petals on survival and expression of BAX and BCL۲ genes in MCF-۷ breast cancer cells were investigated. For this purpose, MCF-۷ breast cancer cells were cultured and treated with ۲۴, ۴۸ and ۷۲ hours by ethanolic extract of saffron plant with different concentrations. The effect of the extract on cell viability was assessed by MTT. RNA extraction was performed and cDNA was performed to measure the expression of BAX and BCL۲ genes Real Time PCR.Results : This study showed that with increasing concentration and time, cell viability decreased significantly and significantly compared to control samples. Also, the results of Real-Time PCR showed that the expression of BAX and BCL۲ genes at ۴۸ and ۷۲ hours increased and decreased significantly compared to the control sample.Conclusion : The results of this study show that ethanolic saffron extract affects the expression of BAX and BCL۲ genes in human breast cancer cells, which is associated with inhibiting the growth of cancer cells.

saffron petals, Breast Cancer, BAX and BCL۲ genes