Antiproliferative Effects of Olanzapine against MCF-7 Cells and Its Molecular Interactions with Survivin

Background: Epidemiologic findings revealed approximately one-third of patients with breast cancer develop brain metastases. Recent research has found that schizophrenia patients who take antipsychotic medications on a long-term basis have a decreased risk of cancers than normal individuals. This serendipitous anticancer action of antipsychotic medications is now being investigated by many studies. The ability of these drugs to penetrate the blood-brain barrier may target brain metastases. We investigated antiproliferative activity of antipsychotic drug. The present study aimed to determine the antiproliferative effects of olanzapine against MCF-7 cells and also to examine its molecular interactions with survivin. Methods: The antiproliferative effects of olanzapine were demonstrated using MTT assay and molecular interactions were analyzed using AutoDock Vina ver4.0 between olanzapine (PubChem CID − 135398745) and survivin (PDB ID − 1E31). These molecular interactions were also compared with tamoxifen (PubChem CID: 2733526). Results: We found that olanzapine has extensive antiproliferative effects against MCF-7 human breast cancer cells, with an IC50 of 10.9 g/mL. We also discovered that olanzapine had possible interactions with the survivin protein at Lys15, Phe86, and Val89 amino acid residues, which could be related to effects of olanzapine on MCF-7 cell viability. Conclusion: Our research establishes that olanzapine has promising anticancer properties against breast tumors, with prospective application to target brain metastases in patients with breast cancer.