Faranak Fallahian - Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Qom university of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran
Maryam Hamzeloo-Moghadam - Traditional Medicine and Materia Medica Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences,Tehran, Iran.
Mahmoud Aghaei - Department of Clinical Biochemistry, School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Mohammad Hossein Abdolmohammadi - Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Qom university of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran

Induction of apoptosis in cancer cells can be a promising treatment method in cancer therapy. Naturally-derived products had drawn growing attention as agent in cancer therapy. The main target of anticancer drugs may be distinct, but eventually they lead to identical cell death pathway, which is apoptosis. The current study was therefore carried out to address the issue if Britannin, a sesquiterpene lactone isolated fromAstraceae family, is able to induce apoptosis in the breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468. Material and Methods: Cell viability was determined using the MTT assay. Annexin-V/propidium iodide (PI) staining, Hoechst 33258 staining and caspase-3/9 activity assay was used to indicate that Britannin is able to induce apoptosis in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 cells. Results: we indicated that Britannin have antiproliferative activity on the MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 human breast cancer cells. Annexin-V/propidium iodide (PI) staining, Hoechst 33258 staining and caspase-3/9 activity assay confirmed that Britannin is able to induce apoptosis in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 cells. Conclusion: Taken together, these results suggest that Britannin inhibits growth of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 reast cancer cells and may potentially serve as an agent for breast cancer therapy.

Britannin, Sesquiterpene lactone, Apoptosis, Breast cancer cell lines