Combined treatment with chrysin and 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose synergistically inhibits LRP6 and Skp2 activation in triple-negative breast cancer and xenografts

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is difficult to treat because there is no targeted therapy available. Clinical studies have demonstrated that S-phase kinase-associated protein 2 (Skp2) and low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 6 (LRP6) are highly expressed in TNBC. Therefore, therapeutic strategies designed to downregulate LRP6 or Skp2 may play an important clinical role in the treatment of TNBC. However, the regulatory effects of many drugs on Skp2 and LRP6 expression are currently unknown. In the present study, combined treatment with chrysin and 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose (5GG) synergistically induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest and inhibited cell proliferation and colony formation in AU565 and MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. Furthermore, the combination of chrysin and 5GG suppressed tumor growth in nude mice with xenografted MDA-MB-231 cells by downregulating the phospho-LRP6 (pLRP6) and Skp2 proteins. Overall, our findings suggested that the combination of chrysin and 5GG has a potential therapeutic value in treating breast cancer, particularly for TNBC associated with Skp2/LRP6 overexpression, and hence warrants further investigation.