Cochinchina momordica Seed Extract Induces G2/M Arrest and Apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 Cells

Breast cancer is a malignant tumor of the highest morbidity and mortality in the world although the treatments of breast cancer have been improved. Furthermore, the incidence of breast cancer is increasing at an alarming rate (Parkin et al., 2006; Barron et al., 2008). Apoptosis plays an important role in the organism development and immune defense machinery (Vaux et al., 1999; Hidalgo et al., 2003). It is a protective mechanism against carcinogenesis by eliminating damaged cells or abnormal excess cells proliferated owing to various chemical agent inductions (Brown et al., 1999; Hengartner et al., 2000). Apoptosis is characterized by particular morphological changes, including cell shrinkage, depolarization of mitochondria, chromatin condensation, and DNA fragmentation (Wyllie et al., 1980). Many researchers have demonstrated that the anticancer activities of certain chemotherapeutic agents are involved in the induction of apoptosis, which has become a principal mechanism for effective anticancer therapy (Kundu et al., 2005). As an important source, plants may produce potential chemopreventive or chemotherapeutic agents. A lot of therapeutic drugs in use are derived from plants, such as paclitaxel from Taxus brevifolia and vinblastine from Catharanthus roseus (Vickers, 2002; Bosch et al.,