Chemo-preventive effect of Thymoquinone in reduction of resistance to chemotherapy

Cancer chemo-therapeutic drugs fail to take effect due to resistance. The IFN-related DNA damage resistance signature (IRDS) is associated with resistance to chemotherapy or radiation in various cancer cell lines. Some of the IRDS genes are STAT1, ISG15 and IFIT1 which are involved within interferon signaling pathways. The over-expression of STAT1 is reported in breast cancer which is related with increased resistance to radiation and chemotherapy. In the current study, whole genome microarray data analysis was done on estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer cells after treatment with Thymoquinone which is derived from black seed. Methodology: The quantity and quality of RNA samples of MCF7 cells were identified using RNeasyPlus Mini kit and RNA 6000 Nano LabChip kit, respectively. The purified RNA samples were used in two-color 8×60K cDNA array platform with SurePrint Agilent technology. Results: Data analysis was done using Feature extraction and GeneSpring softwares. Hierarchical clustering of genes identified the fold change of genes within a similar cluster. Gene ontology analysis showed the biological process and molecular function of interferons. Conclusion: the findings revealed downregulation of gene IFIT1 by 10.65‑fold and STAT1 by 1.62 fold. These findings further supported the chemo-preventive effects of this compound. Thereby, this experimental study suggested using this compound along with other chemo-therapeutic drugs during breast cancer treatment would reduce chemo-resistance.

کلیدواژه ها:

chemotherapy ، chemo-resistance ، interferons ، Thymoquinone ، breast cancer