Methyl Jasmonate-induced Increase in Intracellular Magnesium Promotes Apoptosis in Breast Cancer Cells

Abstract

Background/aim: Methyl jasmonate (MeJa) is a botanical stress hormone that serves as a defense mechanism to inhibit growth in stressed plants. It is well known that MeJa exhibits an anticancer effect by reducing intracellular ATP, activating reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and promoting mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activity. Presently, no report has been published on MeJa-induced changes in intracellular Mg²⁺ concentration ([Mg²⁺]i), and TRPM7 as an Mg²⁺ transporter in cancer cells. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the Mg²⁺ homeostatic changes and apoptotic effects following MeJa treatment using the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line.

Materials and methods: The MTT assay was used to assess the cell viability and half-inhibitory concentration, microscopic two-photon excitation wavelength spectrophotometry was used to measure the [Mg²⁺]i, a luminescent assay determined intracellular ATP levels, western blot assay measured TRPM7 levels, antioxidant capacities, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and MAPK signaling pathways, while the fluorescence assay evaluated ROS concentrations and the cell apoptotic index.

Results: This study provides evidence that MeJa has an antiapoptotic effect on MCF-7 cells. The increase in [Mg²⁺]i led to decreased TRPM7 expression, which is related to elevated ROS production, in addition to elevated ER stress and MAPK signaling pathway activity and decreased ATP content.

Conclusion: The increase in [Mg²⁺]i leads to decreased TRPM7 expression and may be the epicenter of MeJa-induced apoptotic cell death in MCF-7 cells.

Keywords: ER stress; MAPK pathway; MCF-7 cells; Methyl jasmonate; ROS production; TRPM7; anticancer effect; breast cancer; intracellular magnesium.