Reduced expression levels of STAT1 and STAT3 upon thymoquinone treatment on breast cancer cells

Korak T., Bal Albayrak M. G., Kasap M., Akpinar G.

XVIII.Medical Biology and Genetics Congress, Ankara, Türkiye, 26 - 29 Ekim 2023, cilt.2, ss.10

  • Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
  • Cilt numarası: 2
  • Basıldığı Şehir: Ankara
  • Basıldığı Ülke: Türkiye
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.10
  • Kocaeli Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Objective: Thymoquinone (TQ), a natural compound, has demonstrated anti-cancer properties in breast

cancer (BC) by exhibiting anti-proliferative, anti-metastatic and immunomodulatory effects. Signal transducers

and activators of transcription (STAT) 1 promotes tumor growth by suppressing tumor immune surveillance

and inducing invasiveness. Likewise, STAT3 increase tumor aggressiveness by promoting metastasis and

angiogenesis. Aberrant activation of them detected in diverse cancer types including BC. Nevertheless, despite

their tumorigenic role, they paradoxically exhibit tumor suppressor potential. In this study, we examined the

effects of TQ on the expression of STAT1 and STAT3 proteins in BC cells, aiming to gain insights into their

complex and multifaceted roles.

Methods: MCF7 cells were treated with TQ at 15 μM concentration for 48 hours at 37 oC, as previously

optimized. Isolated proteins from the TQ-treated and non-TQ-treated (Control) MCF7 cells were validated

by 1D SDS-PAGE analysis. STAT1 and STAT3 protein expressions were measured by Western Blot. Protein

bands were quantified by ImageJ and the significance of the results was analyzed using GraphPad Prism

(10.0.1) through an unpaired t-test.

Results: High-quality total protein was acquired. TQ-treated MCF7 cells exhibited significantly reduced

STAT1 and STAT3 expressions in ~23 and ~ 290 fold, respectively (p<0.05).

Conclusion: TQ inhibited MCF7 cell proliferation and conspicuously decreased STAT1 and STAT3 expressions

implying that TQ suppresses tumorigenic characteristics of these genes. Given that TQ has the potential to

affect the STAT-related pathways, our findings highlights the promising use of TQ in the prevention and

treatment of BC. Extensive research may clarify underlying molecular pathways of TQ and contribute to the

identification of novel anticancer approaches.

Keywords: Breast neoplasms, STAT1, STAT3, thymoquinone.