Open AccessEffect of sodium butyrate on human breast cancer cell lines
Author(s) -
Coradini D.,
Biffi A.,
Costa A.,
Pellizzaro C.,
Pirronello E.,
Fronzo G.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
cell proliferation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.647
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1365-2184
pISSN - 0960-7722
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2184.1997.tb00931.x
Subject(s) - sodium butyrate , apoptosis , cell culture , cell cycle , flow cytometry , cell growth , dna fragmentation , cell , chemistry , growth inhibition , butyrate , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , endocrinology , medicine , cancer research , programmed cell death , biochemistry , genetics , fermentation
We have investigated the effects exerted by sodium butyrate (NaBu) on the growth and cell cycle perturbations of four human breast cancer cell lines (MCF7, T47D, MDA‐MB231 and BT20) with different steroid receptor profiles. Moreover, since one of the supposed mechanisms of action for NaBu activity involves the induction of apoptosis, we have studied the effects of NaBu on DNA fragmentation by agarose gel electrophoresis and flow cytometry. In all investigated cell lines, NaBu exerted a time‐ and dose‐dependent inhibition of growth and caused a maximum inhibitory effect (85% to 90%) at the concentration of 2.5 mm. The inhibition was already evident after 3 days of treatment. The antiproliferative effect of NaBu was associated with a persistent block of cells in the G 2 M phase. The block was associated with apoptosis only in oestrogen‐receptor positive cell lines. The inhibiting effect of NaBu in hormone‐dependent and independent cell lines and its ability to induce apoptosis through a cell cycle perturbation in hormone‐dependent cell lines may have important implications in the treatment of human tumours including breast cancer.