Oncostatic treatment effect of triple negative breast cancer cell line with copper (I)‐nicotinate complex

AbstractThe treatment of triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains a majorchallenge. The present study aimed to throw more light on the role of copper(I)‐nicotinate complex (CNC) as an antitumor as well as a proapoptotic agent.In this study, the HCC‐1806 cell line was used as a model for TNBC. Cell cycle,apoptosis assay, and programmed cell death protein‐1 were investigated byflowcytometry. Besides, the comet assay was performed using a fluorescencemicroscope. The enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay technique was used forthe detection of phospho‐Chk1 at ser 317 and caspase‐3. Moreover, the geneexpression of survivin was identified by real‐time polymerase chain reaction.Finally, superoxide dismutase (SOD) was calorimetrically assayed. The viabilityof HCC‐1806 cells treated with CNC was decreased in a dose‐dependentmanner. The tendency for apoptotic machinery was observed through theincrease in the sub G0 peak, the percentage of early and late apoptotic phases,and the elevation in caspase‐3 levels associated with a downregulation of thesurvivin gene expression. The antioxidant property of the complex, reflected byelevated SOD activity, may contribute to mediate the cell death pathways. Lowconcentrations of CNC were found to favor the apoptotis‐mediated mechan-ism. However, one cannot neglect the abundance of cell necrosis–mediateddeath of cells via CNC, especially at higher concentrations.KEYWORDSapoptosis, caspase‐3, copper (I)‐nicotinate complex (CNC), programmed cell death protein‐1 (PD‐1),survivin, triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC)