Lupeol inhibits the proliferation and migration of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells via a novel crosstalk mechanism between autophagy and the EMT.

Xin Zhang, Zhanwang Gao, Kehan Chen, Qingyuan Zhuo, Meixian Chen, Jiansong Wang, Xiaoping Lai, Lingli Wang

Food & function 2022 May 10

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Triple-negative breast cancer is the most aggressive type of breast cancer, with a poor prognosis, while effective treatment options are limited. In this study, the anti-tumor effect of lupeol, a natural triterpenoid, toward breast cancer cells and the underlying mechanisms were examined. We firstly predict the primary pathways of lupeol inhibited to TNBC by a network pharmacology approach, which indicated that lupeol may inhibit TNBC via multiple signaling pathways. In addition, experimental data showed that lupeol exhibited outstanding anti-proliferative and anti-metastatic abilities in vitro and in vivo. Additional intrinsic mechanism studies revealed that lupeol might induce autophagy by inhibiting the Akt-mTOR pathway, and activating an autophagy inhibited epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). This study demonstrated that lupeol could inhibit TNBC cells by inducing autophagy, suggesting lupeol as a potential treatment alternative or as a dietary supplement for TNBC, as well as offering novel insights into the anti-cancer effect of lupeol.

Citation

Xin Zhang, Zhanwang Gao, Kehan Chen, Qingyuan Zhuo, Meixian Chen, Jiansong Wang, Xiaoping Lai, Lingli Wang. Lupeol inhibits the proliferation and migration of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells via a novel crosstalk mechanism between autophagy and the EMT. Food & function. 2022 May 10;13(9):4967-4976