Comparison of Anticancer Activity of Dorycnium pentaphyllum Extract on MCF-7 and MCF-12A Cell Line: Correlation with Invasion and Adhesion

Dorycnium pentaphyllum subsp. haussknechtii is an important medicinal plant in several countries, including Turkey. This study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxicity of a crude extract of D. pentaphyllum subsp. haussknechtii against different breast cell lines to determine invasion, adhesion, and lipid peroxidation. The cytotoxic effects on MCF-7 breast cancer and MCF-12A as the immortalized cell line were examined by the XTT assay. Invasion and adhesion studies were performed according to the manufacturer’s kit procedure to IC(50) values for 48 h. Lipid peroxidation was measured in the MCF-7 cell. A bioinformatics analysis was conducted to unravel the mechanism of action underlying antiproliferative effects, as well. According to XTT results, the tested extract showed a time- and a concentration-dependent cytotoxic effect. The most effective concentration was 100.5 µg/mL (48 h), which was selected for biological activities, such as apoptotic activity, invasion, adhesion, and lipid peroxidation assays. The extract caused tumoral cell death, and it did not have a cytotoxic effect on healthy human breast cells. Duplication times and measurement of CI analyses of cells were performed using the real-time cell analysis system xCELLigence. Finally, the bioinformatics analysis indicated the prominent role of quercetin as an extract component exerting a key role in the observed antiproliferative effects. This was supported by the micromolar/submicromolar affinity of quercetin towards proto-oncogene serine/threonine–protein kinase (PIM-1) and hematopoietic cell kinase (HCK), both involved in breast cancer. Altogether, our findings proposed that the extraction of the plant can be an effective strategy to isolate biomolecules with promising cytotoxic effects against breast cancer cells.