Soon Yan Tan0000-0003-0362-6394Chai Nien FooNg Foong LengChee Hong Tan0000-0003-1377-7655Lim Yang Mooi2025-10-062025-10-062025-0110.1016/j.gene.2024.149043https://dspace-cris.utar.edu.my/handle/123456789/11445Breast cancer remains a significant global health concern, impacting millions of women every year. Maslinic acid (MA), a pentacyclic triterpene has been found to exert promising anticancer effect in various cancers, including breast cancer, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study aims to elucidate the anticancer properties of MA via gene expression profiles in breast cancer cells. Cytotoxicity assay results revealed that MCF-7 exerts the highest sensitivity after 72 h of MA treatment followed by T-47D and MDA-MB-231. MCF-7 were then selected for in-depth analysis using the Nanostring nCounter Pancancer Pathway Panel to analyze the differential expression of genes (DEGs). Across three time points (24, 48, and 72 h), 20 significant DEGs were identified, of which 5 were upregulated and 15 were downregulated. In silico analysis indicated that these DEGs were involved in Pathway of Cancer, Focal Adhesion-PI3K-mTOR Signaling Pathway, PI3K-Akt, and Ras Signaling Pathway. The regulation of these DEGs contributes to several cellular activities such as apoptosis, inhibition of cell proliferation, cell cycle and survival, reduction of glycolysis, angiogenesis, and DNA repair. Additionally, the unfolded protein response emerged as a noteworthy biological process in this study. This study unravels the molecular mechanisms underpinning the therapeutic potential of MA against breast cancer. © 2024 Elsevier B.V.enAnticancerBreast cancerHallmarks of cancerMaslinic acidApoptosisBreast NeoplasmsCell LineTumorCell ProliferationFemaleGene Expression ProfilingGene Expression RegulationNeoplasticHumansMCF-7 CellsOleanolic AcidSignal TransductionTriterpenesepidermal growth factor receptorF actingelatinase Bmacrophage inflammatory protein 1alphamaslinic acidmicroRNAosteopontinoleanolic acidtriterpeneangiogenesisantineoplastic activityapoptosisArticlebreast cancercell proliferationcell viabilitycolorectal cancercontrolled studycytotoxicitycytotoxicity testdiffuse large B cell lymphomaDNA repairfemalefetal bovine serumgene expressiongene expression profilingglycolysisherpes virus infectionhistone modificationhumanhuman cellIC50MAPK signalingMCF-7 cell lineMDA-MB-231 cell linemetastasisMTT assayprogeriaprotein phosphorylationreal time polymerase chain reactionRNA extractionsignal transductionT-47D cell lineunfolded protein responseWnt signalingbreast tumordrug effectdrug therapygene expression regulationgeneticsmetabolismprocedurestumor cell linejournal-article