Induction of Apoptotic Death and Cell Cycle Arrest in HeLa Cells by Extracellular Factors of Breast Cancer Cells

Document Type : Short Communications

Authors

1 Cancer and Translational Research Lab, Dr D.Y. Patil Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Institute, Dr D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth, India.

2 Department of Pathology, Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre, Pimpri, Pune, Maharashtra, India.

Abstract

Background: There are evidences on the role of extracellular factors in cellular communication between cancer
cells and non-cancerous cells to support tumor progression and a phenomenon of cancer cachexia. However, evidences
are scarce to show the effects of extracellular factors from one carcinoma microenvironment upon growth and survival
of another carcinoma. Methodology: To address the above issue, we have selected excised breast carcinoma tissue
samples and in vitro grown MCF-7 sources of extracellular factors and tested their effects to evaluate growth and
proliferation inhibitory potential against a cervical carcinoma cell line HeLa. Results: Data from the in vitro experiments
like Trypan blue dye exclusion, MTT assay, cell cycle assay and annexin V/PI staining lead us to suggest that the
extracellular factors collected from the culture medium of in vitro grown MCF-7 and excised breast carcinoma tissue
play an apoptosis inducing and cell cycle arrest role in HeLa. In these in vitro experiments, we detected the presence of
up to 40-50% apoptotic cell death in HeLa cells and increase in G2-M cell cycle phase from 11%-25% due to treatment
with extracellular factors from human breast carcinoma cells. Discussion and Conclusion: These observations are
novel and suggest that extracellular factors from breast carcinoma play an apoptosis inducing and growth inhibitory
role upon on HeLa cells. This study can also support the concept of cancer cachexia and a possible hypothesis for rare
chance of synchronous two or more primary tumor in a single patient.

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