title: 3,3'-Diindolylmethane inhibits the invasion and metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cellsin vitroandin vivoby regulation of epithelial mesenchymal transition.
abstract: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is characterized by silent progression and atypical early symptoms. Early metastasis to the neck lymph nodes is common. However, conventional chemoradiotherapy is limited and unable to effectively control cervical lymph node metastasis of NPC. In addition, toxicities caused by chemoradiotherapy often induce damage to normal tissues and organs. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the ability of 3,3'-diindolylmethane (DIM) to inhibit the invasion and metastasis of NPC cellsin vitroandin vivo. The migration and invasive abilities of the 5-8F human NPC cell line were detected using a Transwell assay. Lymph node metastasis in nude mice was observed following the implantation of xenograft tumors for 8 weeks. In addition, western blot analysis was used to detect the expression levels of epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT)-associated key proteins in NPC cells treated with DIMin vitroandin vivo. The results demonstrated that DIM effectively inhibited the migration and invasion of NPC cellsin vitroand the effect was concentration-dependent. In addition, DIM significantly delayed and reduced the occurrence of lymph node metastasis in the animal model. The expression levels of a number of key proteins associated with EMT were affected by DIM treatment. In the animal model, there were no signs of toxicity in the vital organs, including the heart, liver and kidney, of animals fed a diet containing DIM. Therefore, the results of the present study indicate that DIM affects the expression levels of a number of EMT-associated key proteins and induces the inhibition of invasion and metastasis of NPC cellsin vitroandin vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Fen
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Botui
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zezhang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tao
keywords: 3,3′-diindolylmethane; epithelial mesenchymal transition; invasion; metastasis; nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell