Investigation of apoptotic efficacy of propolis in MCF-7 cell line

Objective: Propolis, also known as bee glue, is a resinous compound collected by honey bees from various plants and processed by their saliva enzymes. Propolis and its components have been studied for their cytotoxic effects on cell lines in vitro, and recent studies have shown that they also have an antitumor effect in vivo. This study aimed to investigate the in-vitro apoptotic effects of propolis on the human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). Method: The MTT test was used to determine the effect of propolis on cell viability and the doses to be administered. The GraphPad Prism Version 6.01 program was used to analyze the MTT results, while the qRT-PCR method was used to determine the expression levels of Caspase-8, Caspase-9, and Bcl-2 genes. The RT2 profiler PCR Assay Data Analysis version 3.5 was used to analyze gene expression data. Results: This study it was found that doses of 3.9 and 7.8 µg/ml of propolis showed no cytotoxic effect, while doses of 15.625 µg/ml and above had a cytotoxic effect. There was no change in the expression levels of genes at concentrations of 3.9 µg/ml and 7.8 µg/ml of propolis. However, at 15.625 µg/ml of propolis, Caspase-9 gene expression increased 11.89-fold (p=0.033). Although there was no significant difference in Caspase-8 gene expression in the extrinsic pathway of apoptosis (p=0.437), a 0.04-fold decrease in anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 gene expression was observed (p=0.000098). Conclusion: In conclusion, propolis showed a dose-dependent cytotoxic effect on the MCF-7 cell line, induced apoptosis, and did so via the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis. The study suggests that propolis has high potential as an anticancer agent since its apoptotic effects have been demonstrated in the MCF-7 cell line.