Anti-Cancer Effects of Tyrosol on Breast Cancer Cell Line- Exploring the Action Mechanisms

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women for which no suitable treatment has been found yet. Therefore, the present study studied the cytotoxicity effects of tyrosol (TRY) on the Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF7) breast cancer cell line and L929 normal cells.

MCF7 and L929 cells were cultured red in DMEM-F12 culture medium after preparation and then exposed to 0, 100, 200, and 300 μM of TRY for 72 hours. Cell viability was evaluated using the MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay, and apoptotic and necrotic cell percentages were determined by flow cytometry. After designing specific primers, the expression levels of bax, p53, and bcl-2 genes were evaluated by RT-PCR. GraphPad Prism software was used for analyzing the data.

TRY-treated MCF7 cells showed significantly decreased cell viability in a dose-depended manner. Also, the cell treated with high concentrations of TRY (200 and 300 µM) had a high rate of apoptosis and necrosis (P<0.0001). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) content increased in TRY-treated MCF7 cells. Moreover, the overexpression of bax and p53 and downregulation of bcl-2 was seen in TRY-treated MCF7 cells.

TRY has anticancer effects on breast cancer cells by the induction of oxidative stress and apoptosis, as well as the regulation of genes involved in the process of mitochondrial apoptosis.