Hypericin Combined with Paclitaxel Inhibits Breast Cancer Cells Through Up-regulation ROS Level

OBJECTIVE To study the effect of paclitaxel combined with hypericin on breast cancer cell proliferation. METHODS Breast cancer cells MCF-7 and Bcap-37 were set as study objects. The effects of single drug and combination drug on the proliferation activity of cancer cells were detected by MTT method. The effect of drugs on cancer cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. The changes of mitochondrial membrane potential, the expression level of caspase-3 protein, the content of ROS, the content of reduced glutathione and the activity of glutathione S-transferase were detected in this study. RESULTS When incubation cells with 0.5 mg·L^-1 paclitaxel combined with 0.5 mg·L^-1 hypericin for 24 h, the synergistic index Q in MCF-7 and Bcap-37 cells was 1.30 and 1.41, respectively, it showed good cooperative effect. In the two kinds of cells, mitochondrial membrane potential was significantly decreased, the expression level of caspase-3 and intracellular ROS increased, while the reduced glutathione level decreased, and the activity of glutathione S-transferase was inhibited. CONCLUSION Paclitaxel combined with hypericin-photodynamic therapy enhance the proliferation inhibition on breast cancer cells MCF-7 and Bcap-37, which prove the cell experiment foundation for combination therapy of breast cancer.