Prunella vulgaris Polysaccharide Inhibits Growth and Migration of Breast Carcinoma-Associated Fibroblasts by Suppressing Expression of Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor

Objective: To study the effects of Prunella vulgaris polysaccharide(PVP) on human breast carcinoma-associated fibroblasts(CAFs). Method: Cell viability was detected by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-4-sulfophenyl)-2 H-tetrazolium(MTS) assay. Wound healing experiment and transwell migration assay were used to investigate the anti-migration effects. Flow cytometry was applied to detect cell apoptosis and cell cycle distribution. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were used to detect the expression of basic fibroblast growth factor(b FGF) in CAFs. Culture SKBr-3 with CAFs conditioned medium(CAFs-CM) to evaluate the indirect function on the proliferation of breast cancer SKBr-3 cells. Results: PVP inhibited the viability of CAFs by inducing apoptosis(P<0.01) and arresting cell cycle(P<0.01). It also inhibited the migration of CAFs(P<0.01). b FGF promoted CAFs proliferation(P<0.01) and migration(P<0.01), protected CAFs from apoptosis(P<0.05) and reduced G0 phase to 49.06%(P<0.01). However, these effects of b FGF on CAFs could be abrogated by PVP. Culturing SKBr-3 with CAFs-CM, PVP could inhibit the viability of breast cancer SKBr-3 cells indirectly. Moreover, PVP reduced the m RNA expression(P<0.01) and protein secretion of b FGF(P<0.01) in CAFs. Conclusion: PVP could exert an anti-cancer effect on breast CAFs by inhibiting bFGF expression, thus inhibiting the growth of breast cancer SKBr-3 cells indirectly.