Figure 1

The inhibitory effect of Ergosterol (ER) against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. (a) The cell viability of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 was screened with various concentrations of ER (2.5–40 μM) by MTS assay for 24, 48 and 96 h. (b) The cell cycle assay was analyzed by flow cytometer with propidium iodide staining. The representative histogram of cell phase distribution was displayed as G0/G1, S, and G2/M phases after DMSO control and ER 20 μM treatment for 24 h. (c) The spheroids without Matrigel with DMSO or ER 20 μM treatment after 1, 3, 5 and 7 days were photographed and analyzed for the spheroid diameter (scale bar: 2500 μm). (d) The spheroids were embedded in 2.5% Matrigel and treated with DMSO or ER 20 μM. Spheroids were performed five wells per condition and photographed after 1, 3, 5, and 7 days of incubation (scale bar: 2500 μm), and the mass intensity was analyzed by Image J software. Data were expressed as mean ± S.D. of three independent experiments. The statistical significance was analyzed and compared to the DMSO control by One-way ANOVA, and Dunnett’s post-hoc analysis with P-value (P < 0.05 *; P < 0.01 **) was considered a significance.