| Summary: | Senescence-induced therapy has been improved to increase its cytotoxicity and reduce the resistance of breast cancer cells to
chemotherapy agents. An example of a potential senescence-inducing agent is black cumin oil (BCO) because one of its major
compounds, α-pinene, can induce senescent cells. This study aims to explore the senescence-inducing activity of BCO in
HER2-overexpressing breast cancer cells (MCF7/HER2). The yield obtained from hydro-distillation of BCO was 0.54%, and
the main compounds were p-cymene (48.03%), dihydrocarveol (11.39%), and α-pinene (11.29%). BCO exhibited a moderate
cytotoxicity profile indicated by IC50, which was >200 μg/mL in both cell lines. In combination with doxorubicin, BCO did not
increase the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin. Moreover, BCO induced senescence by increasing 3% of the senescent cells compared
with that of the untreated cells. A combination of BCO and doxorubicin increased the senescent cells by 3%–7% compared
with doxorubicin alone. Therefore, the moderate cytotoxicity of BCO could be beneficial to the application of BCO as a
chemotherapeutic adjuvant which increases cancer cells senescent and consequently inhibits cell proliferation.
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