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332046

Dietary supplementation of pomegranate extract alters the Caspase-3 and VEGF promoter epigenetic methylation status and protein levels in breast cancer patients undergoing chemot

Article

Last updated: 30 Dec 2024

Subjects

-

Tags

Natural/synthetic agents in anti-cancer therapy

Abstract

Background: Epigenetic modifications like promoter DNA methylation modulate the activity of cancer-associated genes. Pomegranate fruit extract (PE) possesses immense potential in cancer treatment. To the best of our knowledge, the effect of PE on DNA methylation status has not yet been investigated or reported before. Aim: to investigate the potential that PE exerts its anti-cancer effects by altering the expression of proapoptotic Caspase-3 and proangiogenic VEGF genes via modulating their promoter methylation status in breast cancer (BC) patients receiving chemotherapy. Material and Methods: Bioinformatics analysis followed by Methylation-specific PCR were used to assess the methylation of Caspase-3 and VEGF genes in 25 healthy females receiving 500 mg PE daily, 25 BC patients receiving a chemotherapy regimen (AC 60/600), and 31 BC patients receiving a combination of (AC 60/600) + 500 mg of PE. To investigate if methylation was the major effector on gene expression, protein levels for cleaved Caspase-3 and VEGF were measured by ELISA. Finally, since dietary antioxidants alter the pattern of DNA methylation, serum antioxidant power was measured using the FRAP assay. Results: PE dietary supplementation reduced the methylation of Caspase-3 in patients receiving Chemotherapy + PE (12% to 3%), and increased the caspase-3 protein level by 74.2%. On the other hand, combination treatment slightly enhanced the methylation of the VEGF promoter and reduced its protein level by 36.99%. Conclusion: This study is the first that reports the modulation of DNA methylation status as a novel anti-cancer epigenetic mechanism of action for PE by pro-apoptotic and anti-angiogenic effects.

DOI

10.21608/jcbr.2023.248402.1319

Keywords

breast cancer, Caspase-3, Epigenetics, pomegranate, VEGF

Authors

First Name

Tarek

Last Name

El-Sewedy

MiddleName

Shehata

Affiliation

Department of Applied Medical Chemistry, Medical Research Institute, Alexandria University, Egypt

Email

tarek.elsewedy@alexu.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

alaa

Last Name

kharashi

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

African Centre of Woman Healthcare Services, Ministry of Health, Egypt

Email

alaa.elkharashi@alexu.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

mirna

Last Name

el sherbiny

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Medical Analysis Specialist, Fatma- Elzahraa Hospital, Alexandria, Egypt.

Email

mirna.elsherbiny@alexu.edu.egcom

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

amany

Last Name

youssef

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Applied Medical Chemistry, Medical Research Institute, Alexandria University, Egypt

Email

amany.youssef@alexu.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

yasser

Last Name

el kerm

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Cancer Management and Research, Medical Research Institute, Alexandria University, Egypt

Email

yasser.elkerm@alexu.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

yasser

Last Name

hamed

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Experimental and Clinical Surgery, Medical Research Institute, Alexandria University, Egypt

Email

yasser.hamed@alexu.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

amr

Last Name

hussain

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Cancer Management and Research, Medical Research Institute, Alexandria University, Egypt

Email

amr.hussein@alexu.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

omar

Last Name

el masry

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Applied Medical Chemistry, Medical Research Institute, Alexandria University, Egypt.

Email

omar.elmasry@alex-mri.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

7

Article Issue

4

Related Issue

44567

Issue Date

2023-12-01

Receive Date

2023-11-13

Publish Date

2023-12-01

Page Start

45

Page End

60

Print ISSN

3009-6391

Online ISSN

3009-7312

Link

https://jcbr.journals.ekb.eg/article_332046.html

Detail API

https://jcbr.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=332046

Order

332,046

Type

Original Article

Type Code

885

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Journal of Cancer and Biomedical Research

Publication Link

https://jcbr.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Dietary supplementation of pomegranate extract alters the Caspase-3 and VEGF promoter epigenetic methylation status and protein levels in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy

Details

Type

Article

Created At

30 Dec 2024