Nimbolide inhibits IGF-I-mediated PI3K/Akt and MAPK signalling in human breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231).

The insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) signalling pathway contributes a major role on various cancer cell proliferation, survival and cell cycle. The present study was aimed to investigate the effect of nimbolide on IGF signalling and cell cycle arrest in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. The protein expression of IGF signalling molecules and cell cycle protein levels was assessed by western blot analysis. In order to study the interaction of nimbolide on IGF-1 signalling pathway, IGF-I and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor (LY294002) were used to treat MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. Further, the cell cycle arrest was analysed by flow cytometry. The protein expression of IGF signalling molecules was significantly decreased in nimbolide-treated breast cancer cells. PI3K inhibitor and IGF-I with nimbolide treatment notably inhibited phosphorylated Akt. The cell cycle arrest was observed at the G0/G1 phase, and accumulation of apoptotic cells was observed in nimbolide-treated breast cancer cell lines. Nimbolide also increased the protein expression of p21 and decreased the cyclins in both the cell lines. Nimbolide decreases the proliferation of breast cancer cells by modulating the IGF signalling molecules, which could be very useful for the breast cancer treatment.