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Suppression of fatty acid synthase in MCF-7 breast cancer cells by tea and tea polyphenols: a possible mechanism for their hypolipidemic effects

The Pharmacogenomics Journal volume 3, pages 267–276 (2003)Cite this article

ABSTRACT

Tea is a heavily consumed beverage world wide because of its unique aroma, less cost and broad availability. Fatty acid synthase (FAS) is a key enzyme in lipogenesis. FAS is overexpressed in the malignant human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells and its expression is further enhanced by the epidermal growth factor (EGF). The EGF-induced expression of FAS was inhibited by green and black tea extracts. The expression of FAS was also suppressed by the tea polyphenol (−)-epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG), theaflavin (TF-1), TF-2 and theaflavin 3,3′-digallate(TF-3) at both protein and mRNA levels that may lead to the inhibition of cell lipogenesis and proliferation. Both EGCG and TF-3 inhibit the activation of Akt and block the binding of Sp-1 to its target site. Furthermore, the EGF-induced biosyntheses of lipids and cell proliferation were significantly suppressed by EGCG and TF-3. These findings suggest that tea polyphenols suppress FAS expression by downregulating EGF receptor/PI3K/Akt/Sp-1 signal transduction pathway, and tea and tea polyphenols might induce hypolipidemic and antiproliferative effects by suppressing FAS.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Science Council NSC 91-2320-B-002-068 and NSC 91-2311-B-002-037, by the National Health Research Institute NHRI-EX91-8913BL.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    C-W Yeh, W-J Chen, C-T Chiang & J-K Lin

  2. Institute of Toxicology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    S-Y Lin-Shiau

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Correspondence to J-K Lin.

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Yeh, CW., Chen, WJ., Chiang, CT. et al. Suppression of fatty acid synthase in MCF-7 breast cancer cells by tea and tea polyphenols: a possible mechanism for their hypolipidemic effects. Pharmacogenomics J 3, 267–276 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.tpj.6500192

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