Cytotoxic Effect Induced by Sicilian Oregano Essential Oil in Human Breast Cancer Cells
<i>Origanum vulgare</i> L. is an aromatic plant that exerts antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor activities, mainly due to its essential oil (EO) content. In this study, we investigated the possible mechanism underlying the in vitro antitumor activity of EO extrac...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Cells |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/12/23/2733 |
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| author | Diana Di Liberto Nicolò Iacuzzi Giovanni Pratelli Antonella Porrello Antonella Maggio Salvatore La Bella Anna De Blasio Antonietta Notaro Antonella D’Anneo Sonia Emanuele Federica Affranchi Michela Giuliano Marianna Lauricella Daniela Carlisi |
| author_facet | Diana Di Liberto Nicolò Iacuzzi Giovanni Pratelli Antonella Porrello Antonella Maggio Salvatore La Bella Anna De Blasio Antonietta Notaro Antonella D’Anneo Sonia Emanuele Federica Affranchi Michela Giuliano Marianna Lauricella Daniela Carlisi |
| author_sort | Diana Di Liberto |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <i>Origanum vulgare</i> L. is an aromatic plant that exerts antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor activities, mainly due to its essential oil (EO) content. In this study, we investigated the possible mechanism underlying the in vitro antitumor activity of EO extracted by hydrodistillation of dried flowers and leaves of <i>Origanum vulgare</i> L. grown in Sicily (Italy) in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of Oregano essential oil (OEO) composition highlighted the presence of twenty-six major phytocompounds, such as <i>p</i>-cymene, <i>γ</i>-terpinene, and thymoquinone <i>p</i>-acetanisole. OEO possesses strong antioxidant capacity, as demonstrated by the DPPH test. Our studies provided evidence that OEO reduces the viability of both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. The cytotoxic effect of OEO on breast cancer cells was partially counteracted by the addition of z-VAD-fmk, a general caspase inhibitor. Caspases and mitochondrial dysfunction appeared to be involved in the OEO-induced death mechanism. Western blotting analysis showed that OEO-induced activation of pro-caspases-9 and -3 and fragmentation of PARP decreased the levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL while increasing those of Bax and VDAC. In addition, fluorescence microscopy and cytofluorimetric analysis showed that OEO induces a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential in both cell lines. Furthermore, we tested the effects of <i>p</i>-cymene, γ-terpinene, thymoquinone, and p-acetanisole, which are the main components of OEO. Our findings highlighted that the effect of OEO on MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells appears to be mainly due to the combination of different constituents of OEO, providing evidence of the potential use of OEO for breast cancer treatment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:53:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5ed9b8a5460144cdb0907a715844fce9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4409 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:53:48Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cells |
| spelling | doaj.art-5ed9b8a5460144cdb0907a715844fce92023-12-08T15:13:11ZengMDPI AGCells2073-44092023-11-011223273310.3390/cells12232733Cytotoxic Effect Induced by Sicilian Oregano Essential Oil in Human Breast Cancer CellsDiana Di Liberto0Nicolò Iacuzzi1Giovanni Pratelli2Antonella Porrello3Antonella Maggio4Salvatore La Bella5Anna De Blasio6Antonietta Notaro7Antonella D’Anneo8Sonia Emanuele9Federica Affranchi10Michela Giuliano11Marianna Lauricella12Daniela Carlisi13Department of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics (BIND), Institute of Biochemistry, University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 129, 90127 Palermo, ItalyDepartment of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, ItalyDepartment of Physics and Chemistry (DiFC)-Emilio Segrè, University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 129, 90127 Palermo, ItalyDepartment of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), Section of Chemistry, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, ItalyDepartment of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), Section of Chemistry, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, ItalyDepartment of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, ItalyLaboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 129, 90127 Palermo, ItalyLaboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 129, 90127 Palermo, ItalyLaboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 129, 90127 Palermo, ItalyDepartment of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics (BIND), Institute of Biochemistry, University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 129, 90127 Palermo, ItalyLaboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 129, 90127 Palermo, ItalyLaboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 129, 90127 Palermo, ItalyDepartment of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics (BIND), Institute of Biochemistry, University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 129, 90127 Palermo, ItalyDepartment of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics (BIND), Institute of Biochemistry, University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 129, 90127 Palermo, Italy<i>Origanum vulgare</i> L. is an aromatic plant that exerts antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor activities, mainly due to its essential oil (EO) content. In this study, we investigated the possible mechanism underlying the in vitro antitumor activity of EO extracted by hydrodistillation of dried flowers and leaves of <i>Origanum vulgare</i> L. grown in Sicily (Italy) in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of Oregano essential oil (OEO) composition highlighted the presence of twenty-six major phytocompounds, such as <i>p</i>-cymene, <i>γ</i>-terpinene, and thymoquinone <i>p</i>-acetanisole. OEO possesses strong antioxidant capacity, as demonstrated by the DPPH test. Our studies provided evidence that OEO reduces the viability of both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. The cytotoxic effect of OEO on breast cancer cells was partially counteracted by the addition of z-VAD-fmk, a general caspase inhibitor. Caspases and mitochondrial dysfunction appeared to be involved in the OEO-induced death mechanism. Western blotting analysis showed that OEO-induced activation of pro-caspases-9 and -3 and fragmentation of PARP decreased the levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL while increasing those of Bax and VDAC. In addition, fluorescence microscopy and cytofluorimetric analysis showed that OEO induces a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential in both cell lines. Furthermore, we tested the effects of <i>p</i>-cymene, γ-terpinene, thymoquinone, and p-acetanisole, which are the main components of OEO. Our findings highlighted that the effect of OEO on MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells appears to be mainly due to the combination of different constituents of OEO, providing evidence of the potential use of OEO for breast cancer treatment.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/12/23/2733breast canceressential oiloreganoantioxidant activityGC–MS |
| spellingShingle | Diana Di Liberto Nicolò Iacuzzi Giovanni Pratelli Antonella Porrello Antonella Maggio Salvatore La Bella Anna De Blasio Antonietta Notaro Antonella D’Anneo Sonia Emanuele Federica Affranchi Michela Giuliano Marianna Lauricella Daniela Carlisi Cytotoxic Effect Induced by Sicilian Oregano Essential Oil in Human Breast Cancer Cells Cells breast cancer essential oil oregano antioxidant activity GC–MS |
| title | Cytotoxic Effect Induced by Sicilian Oregano Essential Oil in Human Breast Cancer Cells |
| title_full | Cytotoxic Effect Induced by Sicilian Oregano Essential Oil in Human Breast Cancer Cells |
| title_fullStr | Cytotoxic Effect Induced by Sicilian Oregano Essential Oil in Human Breast Cancer Cells |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cytotoxic Effect Induced by Sicilian Oregano Essential Oil in Human Breast Cancer Cells |
| title_short | Cytotoxic Effect Induced by Sicilian Oregano Essential Oil in Human Breast Cancer Cells |
| title_sort | cytotoxic effect induced by sicilian oregano essential oil in human breast cancer cells |
| topic | breast cancer essential oil oregano antioxidant activity GC–MS |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/12/23/2733 |
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