Adenosine deaminase (ADA) gene expression changes in human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 and normal cell line MCF-10A treated by Glycyrrhiza glabra extract

The adenosine deaminase enzyme participates in the metabolism of purines, and plays an essential role in the proliferation and maturation of mammalian cells and, also its activity increases in breast cancer cells. In this study, the effect of aqueous extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra on viability and ADA gene expression in two human breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) and one normal cell line (MCF-10A) were studied. Cytotoxicity of the G. glabra extract was examined by MTT assay. The expression ADA gene was evaluated by Real-time PCR. The vitality of cancerous cells are decreased by increasing the concentration of the extract significantly. The expression of ADA gene at the concentration of 200 μg/ml of extract in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 lines decreased by 4 and 4.8 fold, respectively. The decrease in viability of breast cancer cells observed in this study could be the result of the reduction of ADA gene expression.