Abstract
Breast cancer is a major health problem affecting the female population worldwide. The triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are characterized by malignant phenotypes, worse patient outcomes, poorest prognosis, and highest mortality rates. The proto-oncogenic receptor tyrosine kinase c-Met is usually dysregulated in TNBCs, contributing to their oncogenesis, tumor progression, and aggressive cellular invasiveness that is strongly linked to tumor metastasis. Therefore, c-Met is proposed as a promising candidate target for the control of TNBCs. Lichens-derived metabolites are characterized by their structural diversity, complexity, and novelty. The chemical space of lichen-derived metabolites has been extensively investigated, albeit their biological space is still not fully explored. The anticancer-guided fractionation of Usnea strigosa (Ach.) lichen extract led to the identification of the depsidone-derived norstictic acid as a novel bioactive hit against breast cancer cell lines. Norstictic acid significantly suppressed the TNBC MDA-MB-231 cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, with minimal toxicity to non-tumorigenic MCF-10A mammary epithelial cells. Molecular modeling, Z'-LYTE biochemical kinase assay and Western blot analysis identified c-Met as a potential macromolecular target. Norstictic acid treatment significantly suppressed MDA-MB-231/GFP tumor growth of a breast cancer xenograft model in athymic nude mice. Lichen-derived natural products are promising resources to discover novel c-Met inhibitors useful to control TNBCs.