Impact of fixed-dose combination of germacrone, curdione, and furanodiene on breast cancer cell proliferation

ABSTRACT

Herb combination has been very popular in traditional medical prescriptions such as Traditional Chinese Medicine [TCM]. Persistent efforts and attempts have been made to dissect the action mode of TCM in recent years, which has provided certain evidence for inter-herbal interactions. However, the interactions among different components in a single herb have been largely neglected. In this experimental study, the interactions among different components of a single herb were explored. The effect of three main sesquiterpenes [germacrone, curdione, furanodiene] isolated from Curcuma WenyujinY.H. Chenet C Ling on MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cell proliferation alone or in combination with a fixed-dose-combination was investigated. Furanodiene significantly inhibited cancer cell proliferation while germacrone and curdione showed no effect. Germacrone enhanced furanodiene's anti-proliferative effect. Curdione showed no effect on furanodiene's anti-proliferative effect but partly reversed the anti-proliferative effect of germacrone and furanodiene combined. The morphological and mitochondrial membrane potential [delta [PSI]m] changes showed similar results. However, they demonstrated complicated interactions on the expression of apoptotic-related proteins and key signal transduction proteins. Unpredictable and complex interactions among different components in Curcuma WenyujinY.H.Chenet C Ling may exist. The intra-herb interactions should be taken into consideration when attempts are made to interpret the art of TCM formulation or other similar recipes