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The Puzzling Issue of ‘Vehicle‐Treated Control’ when Using Ethanol as Drug Carrier for MCF‐7 Cells
Author(s) -
Chan Robbie YatKan,
Lee Kenneth KaHo,
Wong WaiYeung,
Tang Johnny CheukOn,
Lam KimHung,
Cheng ChorHing,
Lau FungYi,
Kok Stanton HonLung,
Gambari Roberto,
Chui ChungHin
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
phytotherapy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.019
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1573
pISSN - 0951-418X
DOI - 10.1002/ptr.5153
Subject(s) - mcf 7 , ethanol , in vitro , cell culture , drug , estrogen , pharmacology , estrogen receptor , chemistry , cell growth , fetal bovine serum , solvent , breast cancer , biochemistry , cancer , medicine , biology , human breast , genetics
Ethanol has been commonly used as a vehicle for drug discovery purpose in vitro . The human breast cancer MCF‐7 estrogen dependent cell line is a common in vitro model used for hormonal therapy study. However, special precaution is suggested when ethanol is used in pharmacological tests as solvent in order to evaluate the biological activity of potential drugs especially concerning about the MCF‐7. Ethanol was shown to stimulate the proliferation of this estrogen receptor positive cell line. Here, we have further demonstrated that the dose responsive stimulatory effect of ethanol on the MCF‐7 cells after pre‐incubating the breast carcinoma cells with phenol red‐free medium and stripped fetal bovine serum. Our findings open a discussion for the evaluation of ethanol as solvent for drug discovery and screening when using MCF‐7 cells as a testing model. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.