RESUMEN
Breast cancer is the most universal cancer in women, but the medications for breast cancer usually cause serious side effects and offer no effective treatment for triple-negative breast cancer. Here, we investigated the growth inhibitory effects of gallic acid (GA), (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), or 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-ß-D-glucose (5GG) combined with quercetin (Que) on breast cancer cells. In this study, we tested the combined effects of these compounds on estrogen receptor (ER)/human epidermal growth factor 2 (Her2)-negative (MDA-MB-231), ER-positive/Her2-negative (BT483), and ER-negative/Her2-positive (AU565) breast cancer cells. After treatment of each cell line with these compounds, we found that Que combined with 5GG induced S-phase arrest and apoptosis in MDA-BM-231 cells through downregulation of S-phase kinase protein 2 expression, but induced G2/M-phase arrest and apoptosis in AU565 cells through downregulation of Her2 expression. Additionally, Que combined with 5GG was more effective in inhibiting MDA-MB-231 cell growth than Que combined with EGCG (5GG analogue) or GA. The combination of 5GG and Que can offer great potential for the chemoprevention of ER-negative breast cancer.