Investigatin g the Effect of Nano-Lactoferrin on Cytotoxicity and Expression of Autophagy Genes Beclin 1, P53 and LC3I in Breast Cancer Cell Line MCF7 and Normal Cell Line Vero

Document Type : Research Articles

Authors

Najibeh Akbari Nowzari ¹

Fatemeh Moradian ¹

Ayoub Farhadi ²

¹ Department of Basic Sciences, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Mazandaran, Iran

² Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Animal and Fishery Sciences, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Mazandaran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/jcmr.2025.89162.1096

Abstract

Autophagy can play an inhibitory role in the early stages of cancer, so studying autophagy genes can aid in developing therapeutic strategies.  This study investigated the effect of lactoferrin (Lf) and nano-encapsulated Lf (NLf) on the expression levels of autophagy-inducing genes Beclin 1, p53 and LC3I. We also examined the effect of Lf and NLf on the growth rate of breast cancer cell and normal cell lines (MCF7 and Vero). The results showed that the survival percentage of MCF7 cells in NLf treatment was lower than Lf with the same concentrations. The survival of Vero cells treated with NLf and Lf was higher than that of MCF-7 cancer cells, and cell death in this normal cell line was minimal.The level of the Beclin 1gene expression in concentrations of 200 and 300 µg of NLf and Lf increased significantly compared to the control in cancer cells. The expression levels of p53 and LC3I genes were significantly increased in all concentrations of NLf and Lf compared to the control in cancer cells.  The expression levels of all three genes in different concentrations of NLf in normal cells showed a significant increase. The level of gene expression and cell death by NLf was slightly higher than that of Lf in cancer cells, which suggests that the intracellular penetration of NLf was greater than Lf. Lf causes cell survival and protects cells during stress by inducing autophagy in normal cells and removing damaged organelles, and causes cell death in cancer cells in the early stages.

Keywords

Autophagy

Biological drug

Breast cancer

Gene expression

Nano-lactoferrin

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