Pentagamaboronon-0-Sorbitol Induces Apoptosis through Elevation of Reactive Oxygen Species in Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer causing mortality for women due to metastasis. More than 50% of breast cancer patients are suffered lung metastases. One strategy to target the cancerous cell is Boron Neutron Captured Therapy (BNCT) which showed high affinity toward cancer cells and reported to have anti-proliferative as well as anti-metastatic activities. Pentagamaboronon-0 (PGB-0) is a curcumin analogue substance which had reported to exert anticancer activities against Her-2 expressing as well as triple negative breast cancer cells. Despite its great potency as BNCT agent candidate, this compound also exerted several anticancer properties. Complex formation of this substance with sorbitol was achieved to improve the solubility and maximize compound’s delivery to the target cells. This study aimed to investigate the ability of Pentagamaboronon-0-Sorbitol (PGB-0-So) to modulate cell cycle and induce apoptosis especially through the mechanisms of reactive oxygen species (ROS) modulation. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazzol-2yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium (MTT) cytotoxicity assay of PGB-0-So against 4T1 breast cancer cell line were found to exert potential effect in dose-dependent manner with lethal concentration (IC50) values of 39 μM. The cytotoxicity of PGB-0-So complex was found to be increased considerably compared with that of PGB-0. Cell cycle modulation identified using propidium iodide (PI) staining showed cell accumulation in S phase following treatment with PGB-0-So. Apoptosis induction assay analyzed using flowcytometer with Annexin V and PI staining on its IC50 dose was found to induce programmed cell death (apoptosis). The sub-IC50 treatment of this compound was also improved the cellular ROS level which also took role in apoptosis induction. These findings suggest that PGB-0-So is potential as an anticancer agent.Keywords: Curcumin analogue, PGB-0-So, Anticancer, 4T1 cell line, ROS modulation