title: Berberine inhibits HEp-2 cell invasion induced by Chlamydophila pneumoniae infection.
abstract: This study investigated the inhibitory effects of berberine on Chlamydophila (Chlamydia) pneumoniae infection-induced HEp-2 cell invasion and explored the possible mechanisms involved in this process. C. pneumoniae infection resulted in a significant increase in HEp-2 cell invasion when compared with the control cells (P<0.01) in a Matrigel invasion assay. This enhanced cell invasion was strongly suppressed by berberine (50 μM) (P<0.01). In a cell adhesion assay, the infection-induced HEp-2 cell adhesion to Matrigel was also significantly inhibited by berberine (P<0.01). C. pneumoniae infection was found to promote HEp-2 cell migration remarkably (P<0.01), which was markedly suppressed by berberine (P<0.01) in the cell migration assays. There were no statistically significant differences in the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) and MMP-9 in the infected cells and berberine did not change the expression of MMP-1 and MMP-9. These data suggest that berberine inhibits C. pneumoniae infection-induced HEp-2 cell invasion through suppressing HEp-2 cell adhesion and migration, but not through changing the expression of MMP-1 and MMP-9.
authors: Department of Pathophysiology, Basic Medical School of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300070, P. R. China.
authors: Li Jun
authors: LJ
authors: Zhang
authors: Li Jun
authors: LJ
authors: Zhang
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Quan
authors: Bei Bei
authors: BB
authors: Wang
authors: Bing Ling
authors: BL
authors: Shen
authors: Teng Teng
authors: TT
authors: Zhang
authors: Yi
authors: Y
authors: Kang
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001599:Berberine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D002460:Cell Line; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects*; D016993:Chlamydophila pneumoniae / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001599:Berberine