Background: A.
Specific Aims :
The specific aims to test the hypothesis are: 1. Establish a repository for tumor samples collected from African American women in Mississippi. 2. Determine whether V. amygdalina extract inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells in vitro. Rationale for this specific aim: Conducting these experiments is very important; it would allow us to test the ability of V. amygdalina to inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells. Growth will be assessed by standard tritiated thymidine uptake and confirmed by cell counts using a hemocytometer. Expected outcome: V. amygdalina extract will inhibit the growth of cancer cell lines in vitro. Rationale for expected outcome: We have preliminary data to show the inhibitory effects of V. amygdalina extract in MCF-7 cell line (Figures 1-2, see below). Additional experiments need to be done using tissue samples collected from African American women in Mississippi. 3. Determine whether V. amygdalina extract will inhibit breast tumor growth in vivo using mice Rationale for this specific aim: Conducting these experiments will allow us to determine whether V. amygdalina can elicit similar tumor growth inhibitory effects in vivo as observed the in vitro studies. 4. Determine the mode of action of V. amygdalina extract; the effects of this extract on the activities of three key modulators of the cell cycle check points [extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases 1 / 2 (ERKs I/2), cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK-2), and cyclin D1 expression]
