LAUSR

Aim: The purpose of this research is to study the effect of electrical pulse mediated tomato lipophilic extract (TLE) on human breast cancer MCF-7 and non-tumorigenic MCF-10A cells. Materials and Methods: MCF-7 and MCF-10A cells were treated with 50 μg/mL TLE and eight 100 μs electric pulses of different electric field intensities (800, 1000, and 1200 V/cm), and the viability was studied using real time MT assay at 24 h of treatment. In addition, we studied cell viability of both the cells at 0 h using trypan blue assay and the ability to form colonies of both cells using colony forming unit (CFU) assay for all the treatments. We also imaged the cells at 24 h using microscope. Results: With 50 μg/mL TLE, the cell viability of MCF-7 and MCF-10A was same (84%). When the same concentration of TLE is combined with eight electrical pulses of 1200 V/cm, the cell viability of MCF-7 and MCF-10A was 2% and 87%, respectively. These results indicate that the effect of electrical pulses mediated TLE was higher on cancerous MCF-7 cells when compared to non-cancerous MCF-10A cells. Conclusion: The combination of electrical pulses with TLE is an effective strategy to selectively target cancer cells in the body.