title: Emodin inhibits migration and invasion of MHCC-97H human hepatocellular carcinoma cells.
abstract: Emodin, an anthraquinone derivative from the root and rhizome ofRheum palmatumL., was found to have antitumor effects in different types of cancer by regulating multi-molecular targets. The aim of the present study was to explore the effect of emodin on the migration and invasion of MHCC-97H human hepatocellular carcinoma cells and the underlying molecular mechanisms. Firstly, it was demonstrated that emodin can inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis of cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner, using a MTT assay and flow cytometry, respectively. However, when emodin concentration was <50 µmol/l, it had little effect on the inhibition of proliferation or the induction of apoptosis. Then, it was observed that emodin can significantly suppress cell migration and invasion with a treatment dose <50 µmol/l compared with the control (P<0.05), which was not attributed to a decrease in cell number. Further study demonstrated that emodin significantly suppressed the expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 compared with the control, which may be mediated by the activation of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) signaling pathway and suppression of extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK)/MAPK and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt signaling pathways. Therefore, the present study, for the first time, used MHCC-97H cells, which have the high potential of malignant invasion, to demonstrate that emodin may inhibit cell migration and invasion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wanfu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Maofeng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shufang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yongan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zifei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qingxin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Changquan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ling
keywords: emodin; human hepatocellular carcinoma; invasion; migration; molecular mechanisms