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Withania somnifera Root Extract Inhibits Mammary Cancer Metastasis and Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition

Yang, Z and Garcia, A and Xu, S and Powell, DR and Vertino, PM and Singh, S and Marcus, AI (2013) Withania somnifera Root Extract Inhibits Mammary Cancer Metastasis and Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition. PLoS ONE, 8 (9).

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Abstract

Though clinicians can predict which patients are at risk for developing metastases, traditional therapies often prove ineffective and metastatic disease is the primary cause of cancer patient death; therefore, there is a need to develop anti-metastatic therapies that can be administered over long durations to specifically inhibit the motility of cancer cells. Withania somnifera root extracts (WRE) have anti-proliferative activity and the active component, Withaferin A, inhibits the pro-metastatic protein, vimentin. Vimentin is an intermediate filament protein and is part of the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) program to promote metastasis. Here, we determined whether WRE standardized to Withaferin A (sWRE) possesses anti-metastatic activity and whether it inhibits cancer motility via inhibition of vimentin and the EMT program. Several formulations of sWRE were created to enrich for Withaferin A and a stock solution of sWRE in EtOH could recover over 90% of the Withaferin A found in the original extract powder. This sWRE formulation inhibited breast cancer cell motility and invasion at concentrations less than 1μM while having negligible cytotoxicity at this dose. sWRE treatment disrupted vimentin morphology in cell lines, confirming its vimentin inhibitory activity. To determine if sWRE inhibited EMT, TGF-β was used to induce EMT in MCF10A human mammary epithelial cells. In this case, sWRE prevented EMT induction and inhibited 3-D spheroid invasion. These studies were taken into a human xenograft and mouse mammary carcinoma model. In both models, sWRE and Withaferin A showed dose-dependent inhibition of tumor growth and metastatic lung nodule formation with minimal systemic toxicity. Taken together, these data support the hypothesis that low concentrations of sWRE inhibit cancer metastasis potentially through EMT inhibition. Moreover, these doses of sWRE have nearly no toxicity in normal mouse organs, suggesting the potential for clinical use of orally administered WRE capsules. © 2013 Yang et al.

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Details

Item Type: Article
Status: Published
Creators/Authors:
CreatorsEmailPitt UsernameORCID
Yang, Z
Garcia, A
Xu, S
Powell, DR
Vertino, PM
Singh, Ssvs2@pitt.eduSVS2
Marcus, AI
Centers: Other Centers, Institutes, Offices, or Units > Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
Date: 12 September 2013
Date Type: Publication
Journal or Publication Title: PLoS ONE
Volume: 8
Number: 9
DOI or Unique Handle: 10.1371/journal.pone.0075069
Schools and Programs: School of Medicine > Pharmacology and Chemical Biology
Refereed: Yes
Date Deposited: 10 Oct 2013 14:34
Last Modified: 29 Jan 2019 15:55
URI: http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/19827

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