Almeida Cristina Ferreira, Correia-da-Silva Georgina, Ribeiro Ana Paula, Teixeira Natércia, Amaral Cristina
UCIBIO i4HB, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, n° 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.
UCIBIO i4HB, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, n° 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.
Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Biol Lipids. 2025 Aug;1870(6):159658. doi: 10.1016/j.bbalip.2025.159658. Epub 2025 Jul 2.
Endocrine therapy for estrogen receptor-positive (ER) breast cancer has significantly improved over the last decades. However, it presents some limitations that make the search for novel therapeutic options mandatory. Several studies have been conducted to understand the anti-tumor potential of cannabinoids in breast cancer. Yet, most of them are focused on the major phytocannabinoids Δ-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). However, Cannabis has other minor phytocannabinoids whose anti-cancer properties are still to be elucidated. Here, we investigated the mechanisms of action of four minor cannabinoids, cannabigerol (CBG), cannabidivarin (CBDV), cannabinol (CBN), and cannabichromene (CBC), in 2D and 3D ER breast cancer models. These cannabinoids dysregulate MCF-7aro cell cycle progression, induce apoptosis by different mechanisms, and inhibit the growth of MCF-7aro spheroids. CBG exerts its effects through a down-regulation of both ER and AR protein levels, while CBDV reduces aromatase protein levels. CBN and CBC simultaneously affect the three targets, ER, aromatase, and AR. In fact, CBN and CBC present an AR-dependent cell death, down-regulate aromatase levels, and act as ER negative regulators impairing cancer cell growth. CBN caused the most pronounced effects. Overall, this study highlights the anti-cancer properties and the therapeutic potential of these minor cannabinoids in ER breast cancer.
在过去几十年中,雌激素受体阳性(ER)乳腺癌的内分泌治疗有了显著改善。然而,它存在一些局限性,这使得寻找新的治疗选择成为必然。已经进行了多项研究来了解大麻素在乳腺癌中的抗肿瘤潜力。然而,其中大多数研究都集中在主要的植物大麻素Δ-四氢大麻酚(THC)和大麻二酚(CBD)上。然而,大麻还有其他次要的植物大麻素,其抗癌特性仍有待阐明。在此,我们在二维和三维ER乳腺癌模型中研究了四种次要大麻素大麻二酚(CBG)、大麻二萜酚(CBDV)、大麻酚(CBN)和大麻色烯(CBC)的作用机制。这些大麻素会破坏MCF-7aro细胞周期进程,通过不同机制诱导细胞凋亡,并抑制MCF-7aro球体的生长。CBG通过下调ER和AR蛋白水平发挥作用,而CBDV降低芳香化酶蛋白水平。CBN和CBC同时影响三个靶点,即ER、芳香化酶和AR。事实上,CBN和CBC呈现出AR依赖性细胞死亡,下调芳香化酶水平,并作为ER负调节剂损害癌细胞生长。CBN产生的影响最为显著。总体而言,本研究突出了这些次要大麻素在ER乳腺癌中的抗癌特性和治疗潜力。