Abstract Recombinant balsamin (rBalsamin), a type I ribosome inactivating protein classified as RNA N-glycosidase, is known to possess antibacterial and DNase like activity. However, its anticancer properties have not yet been examined. In this study, we aimed to investigate the potential cytotoxicity of rBalsamin on hepatocellular (HepG2 and H4IIE) and breast (MCF-7 and BT549) carcinoma cells and the related mechanism. rBalsamin arrested cell cycle at G or S phase and increased the level of caspase-3/8. The expression of Bax, Bid, Bad and p53 increased and that of Bcl-2 and BCL-xl decreased in liver and breast cancer cells with rBalsamin treatment. We found that rBalsamin inhibited cell viability of liver and breast cancer cells in a concentration and time dependent manner with IC50 ranging between 18.92 to > 200 μg/mL. These findings suggest that rBalsamin induced apoptosis in liver and breast cancer cells via death receptor and mitochondrial associated apoptotic pathways, could prove beneficial in the field of cancer therapeutics, highlighting its potential as a functional food ingredient.

中文翻译：

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重组香脂素通过细胞周期阻滞和凋亡途径调节诱导肝癌和乳腺癌细胞凋亡

摘要 重组香脂素 (rBalsamin) 是一种 I 型核糖体失活蛋白，归类为 RNA N-糖苷酶，已知具有抗菌和 DNase 样活性。然而，其抗癌特性尚未得到研究。在本研究中，我们旨在研究 rBalsamin 对肝细胞（HepG2 和 H4IIE）和乳腺（MCF-7 和 BT549）癌细胞的潜在细胞毒性及其相关机制。rBalsamin 在 G 或 S 期阻止细胞周期并增加 caspase-3/8 的水平。在rBalsamin处理的肝癌和乳腺癌细胞中，Bax、Bid、Bad和p53的表达增加，Bcl-2和BCL-xl的表达降低。我们发现 rBalsamin 以浓度和时间依赖性方式抑制肝癌和乳腺癌细胞的细胞活力，IC50 范围在 18.92 至 > 200 μg/mL 之间。