Abstract: A kind of flavonoid "Mango Ether" was extracted and identified from mangosteen peel, and its anti-tumor activities in breast cancer cells were proved. However, the mechanism of Mango Ether is unclear. Three kinds of breast cancer cells, MCF-7, SUM1315MO2 and MDA-MB-231 were used to detect anti-proliferation effects of mango ether, taken the normal human breast cell MCF-10 as control cells. As results, Mango Ether had anti-proliferation effect on MCF-7 cells in a dose-and time-dependent manner. Its IC50 value of 24 h was 20 μmol/L, accompanied with apoptotic bodies. The detection of apoptotic signaling pathway by Western Blot showed that the expression of Bcl-2 down-regulated in a dose-dependent manner, while Bax and Cytochrome C significantly up-regulated, as well as the precaspase-9 expression also down-regulated. These results indicated that Mango Ether inhibited MCF-7 cells proliferation by a mitochondria-dependent apoptotic pathway. In addition, the results of the scratch test showed that Mango Ether can effectively attenuate the migration of MCF-7 cells. In conclusion, mangosteen peel extract, Mango Ether, could inhibit the proliferation and migration of breast cancer MCF-7 cells, which provids useful evidence for anti-tumor treatment strategy.

Key words: Mango Ether, breast cancer, cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell migration