Cinnamon Extract Alters MCF7 Cell Morphology

Cancer prevention is one area of research that has gained interest in recent years. The anti-cancer effects of polyphenols and other nutraceuticals show great promise in prevention as well as therapeutics. In cancers that occur due to epigenetic modifications, molecules that provide these modifications are useful for both the prevention and reversal of disease. Our lab studies the effects of cinnamon extract on cell viability, growth and morphology. Cinnamon extract has high polyphenolic content and is believed to regulate a variety of transcription factors as well as epigenetic modifications. Our observations suggest that a significant change in morphology occurs in the MCF-7 breast cancer cells as a result of cinnamon treatment. Furthermore, these changes do not appear to be due to changes in cell adhesion. Epigenetic changes alter the expression level of genes that dictate cell morphology and therefore morphological changes suggest epigenetic modification are resulting from the cinnamon treatment. Cells were grown to 70-80% confluence and treated with either cinnamon extract or vehicle for 48-96 hours. Cells were screened for viability using both the trypan blue exclusion assay and the XTT assay. Our data demonstrate a change from polygonal to rounded morphology. This finding suggests that further research on gene expression levels should be completed