title: Met inactivation by S-allylcysteine suppresses the migration and invasion of nasopharyngeal cancer cells induced by hepatocyte growth factor.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Past studies have reported that S-allylcysteine (SAC) inhibits the migration and invasion of cancer cells through the restoration of E-cadherin, the reduction of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) and Slug protein expression, and inhibition of the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Furthermore, evidence is emerging that shows that ROS induced by radiation could increase Met activation. Following on these reports of SAC and Met, we investigated whether SAC could suppress Met activation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Wound healing, invasion, 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium (MTT), soft agar colony forming, western blotting, and gelatin zymography assays were performed in the human nasopharyngeal cancer cell lines HNE1 and HONE1 treated with SAC (0, 10, 20, or 40 mM) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF).
  
  
  RESULTS
  This study showed that SAC could suppress the migration and invasion of HNE1 and HONE1 cell lines by inhibiting p-Met. An increase of migration and invasion induced by HGF and its decrease in a dose dependent manner by SAC in wound healing and invasion assays was observed. The reduction of p-Met by SAC was positively correlated with p-focal adhesion kinase (p-FAK) and p-extracellular related kinase (p-ERK in both cell lines). SAC reduced Slug, MMP2, and MMP9 involved in migration and invasion with the inhibition of Met-FAK signaling.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that SAC inhibited not only Met activation but also the downstream FAK, Slug, and MMP expression. Finally, SAC may be a potent anticancer compound for nasopharyngeal cancer treated with radiotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Oyeon
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye-Sook
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Bok-Soon
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Taek
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Chul-Ho
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Mison
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chun
keywords: Invasion; Met; Migration; Nasopharyngeal cancer; S-allylcysteine