TY - JOUR AB - In recent years, α-tomatine has been studied for its anticancer activity. In the present study, we focused on the cytotoxic effect of α-tomatine in the MCF-7 human breast adenocarcinoma cell line, its mechanism of action, biotransformation and stability in the culture medium. We observed an inhibition of cell proliferation and viability at concentrations of 6 and 9 µM but then a recovery of cells occurred. The recovery was not caused by the biotransformation of α-tomatine in MCF-7 cells, but by a substantial decrease in the concentration of α-tomatine in the culture medium due to its binding with cholesterol. Regarding the mechanism of action of α-tomatine, we observed no DNA damage, no changes in the levels of the proteins p53 and p21WAF1/Cip1, and no apoptosis (neither activated caspase-8 and -9, nor sub-G1 peak, or morphological signs). We found a loss of ATP in α-tomatine-treated cells. These results support the conclusion that α-tomatine does not induce apoptosis in the MCF-7 cell line. AD - Department of Medical Biochemistry, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic Department of Histology and Embryology, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic AU - Sucha,Lenka AU - Hroch,Milos AU - Rezacova,Martina AU - Rudolf,Emil AU - Havelek,Radim AU - Sispera,Ludek AU - Cmielova,Jana AU - Kohlerova,Renata AU - Bezrouk,Ales AU - Tomsik,Pavel DA - 2013/12/01 DO - 10.3892/or.2013.2778 EP - 2602 IS - 6 JO - Oncol Rep KW - α-tomatine MCF-7 cell death cholesterol PY - 2013 SN - 1021-335X 1791-2431 SP - 2593 ST - The cytotoxic effect of α-tomatine in MCF-7 human adenocarcinoma breast cancer cells depends on its interaction with cholesterol in incubation media and does not involve apoptosis induction T2 - Oncology Reports TI - The cytotoxic effect of α-tomatine in MCF-7 human adenocarcinoma breast cancer cells depends on its interaction with cholesterol in incubation media and does not involve apoptosis induction UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2013.2778 VL - 30 ER -