Fungal endophytes are known to be a paragon for producing bioactive compounds with a variety of pharmacological importance. The current study aims to elucidate the molecular alterations induced by the bioactive compounds produced by the fungal endophyte Colletotrichum gloeosporioides in the tumor microenvironment of human breast cancer cells. GC/MS analysis of the ethyl acetate (EA) extract of C. gloeosporioides revealed the presence of bioactive compounds with anticancer activity. The EA extract of C. gloeosporioides exerted potential plasmid DNA protective activity against hydroxyl radicals of Fenton's reagent. The cytotoxic activity further revealed that MDA-MB-231 cells exhibit more sensitivity toward the EA extract of C. gloeosporioides as compared to MCF-7 cells, whereas non-toxic to non-cancerous HEK293T cells. Furthermore, the anticancer activity demonstrated by the EA extract of C. gloeosporioides was studied by assessing nuclear morphometric analysis and induction of apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells. The EA extract of C. gloeosporioides causes the alteration in cellular and nuclear morphologies, chromatin condensation, long-term colony inhibition, and inhibition of cell migration and proliferation ability of MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells. The study also revealed that the EA extract of C. gloeosporioides treated cells undergoes apoptosis by increased production of reactive oxygen species and significant deficit in mitochondrial membrane potential. Our study also showed that the EA extract of C. gloeosporioides causes upregulation of pro-apoptotic (BAX, PARP, CASPASE-8, and FADD), cell cycle arrest (P21), and tumor suppressor (P53) related genes. Additionally, the downregulation of antiapoptotic genes (BCL-2 and SURVIVIN) and increased Caspase-3 activity suggest the induction of apoptosis in the EA extract of C. gloeosporioides treated MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells. Overall, our findings suggest that the bioactive compounds present in the EA extract of C. gloeosporioides promotes apoptosis by altering the genes related to the extrinsic as well as the intrinsic pathway. Further in vivo study in breast cancer models is required to validate the in vitro observations.

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