Abstract

Boehmeriasin A is a new compound showing good anticancer effect on breast cancer cell: MDA-MB-231 in vitro. The anti-cancer effect of it was revealed by gene chip and suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH). Totally, there are 328 genes of differential expression obtained from gene chip analysis. Two subtractive libraries were constructed and 163 EST cDNA clones were screened out. RT-PCR, virtual Northern, Northern and Western blot were applied to confirm the result. In conclusion, Boehmeriasin A lowered the expression of genes involved in apoptosis, while promoted expression of some differentiation related genes. This study supplies further evidence that boehmeriasin A inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells through inducing differentiation. In addition, the compound may lead to cell growth arrested via restraining the expression of genes related to cell proliferation and cell cycle regulation. Expression of genes involved in TGF-β1 signal transduction were varied, suggesting the effect of boehmeriasin A is closely associated with TGF-β1 pathway.

Key words: Boehmeriasin A, anti-cancer, SSH, gene chip.