TY - JOUR T1 - Metformin Anti-Tumor Effect and Metabolic Reprogramming in Breast Cancer Cells A1 - Feryal Alharthy A1 - Aliaa Amr Alamoudi A1 - Amina Alnouri A1 - Arwa Alkhuzaee A1 - Ghada Ajabnoor A1 - Mehal AlQriqri A1 - Hoda Gad A1 - Hani Choudhry A1 - Alia Aldahlawi A1 - Rasha Ramadan Basheer JF - Journal of Biochemical Technology JO - J Biochem Technol SN - 0974-2328 Y1 - 2023 VL - 14 IS - 1 DO - 10.51847/u62zZ2nPVJ SP - 70 EP - 79 N2 - Evidence suggests that metformin, an antidiabetic drug, possesses antitumor effects in breast cancer. Although metformin is known to induce metabolic reprogramming, a detailed description of the metabolites altered by metformin in breast cancer cells is limited. In this study, we aimed to investigate metformin’s anti-tumor effect on breast cancer cell lines and to conduct an untargeted metabolic analysis in those cell lines post-metformin treatment. Metformin’s effect on cell viability of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines was done using a CCK-8 kit, and apoptosis assay was conducted using Annexin V staining. HPLC and LTQ XL Linear ion trap mass spectrometers were used for quantifying metabolites in both cell types post-metformin treatment. Metformin showed a reduction in cell viability in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, with IC50s of 14.21±1.33 mM and 12±5.8 mM respectively. It induced 2.1±0.5% and 22.1±2.8% apoptosis in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells respectively. Both cell lines showed different metabolites in response to treatment. Of 31 identified metabolites in MCF-7, 12 significantly differed with metformin, mostly up-regulated. Of 39 metabolites in MDA-MB-231, 30 significantly differed as compared to untreated cells. Enrichment pathway analysis showed metformin to alter major metabolic pathways. Of interest, was the upregulation of glutathione, sphingosine, and sphingosine-1-phosphate in MDA-MB-231, which could support investigating combining metformin treatment with drugs that can target these pathways. Metformin alters tumor metabolism in a cell-dependent manner in breast cancer cells which can open opportunities for new combination therapies, however, further studies are required to support and understand these findings in depth. UR - https://jbiochemtech.com/article/metformin-anti-tumor-effect-and-metabolic-reprogramming-in-breast-cancer-cells-fyctkjomgj3ienj ER -