One area of cancer research is cancer prevention, specifically the use of polyphenols as anti-cancer compounds. The proposed anti-cancer effects of polyphenols include epigenetic changes in the genome that alter expression levels of a variety of genes. Cinnamon extract has high polyphenolic content that has been shown to regulate signaling proteins as well as key transcription factors. Observations suggest that a significant morphological change occurs with cinnamon treatment of MCF-7 breast cancer cells, suggesting the epigenetic modifications may be occurring which alter the standard cell morphology. This study was aimed at determining if in addition to the morphological changes there were also expression changes in Akt1, FoxO1, and SIRT1, all genes which have been associated with epigenetic changes. Cells were grown to 70-80% confluence and treated with either cinnamon extract or vehicle for 48-96 hours, collected by trypsin release for RNA isolation in preparation of the real-time PCR reactions used to measure relative gene expression levels of Akt1. Initial data suggests cinnamon extract pretreatment has only minor effects of SIRT1 expression but cinnamon extract may alter the activity of SIRT1. Future studies will evaluate the expression levels of FoxO1 and SIRT1 in order to determine if any correlation exists.
Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Ohio Northern University
