Xiufen Wang,
Jie Sun,
Feifei Liu,
Yinghui Bian,
Lili Miao,
Xinbo Wang
For correspondence:- Xinbo Wang
Email: xboowang@126.com
Received: 14 March 2017
Accepted: 21 May 2017
Published: 29 June 2017
Citation:
Wang X, Sun J, Liu F, Bian Y, Miao L, Wang X.
Asiatic acid attenuates malignancy of human metastatic ovarian cancer cells via inhibition of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Trop J Pharm Res 2017; 16(6):1223-1229
doi:
10.4314/tjpr.v16i6.3
© 2017 The authors.
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Abstract
Purpose: To investigate the anticancer effects of asiatic acid on human metastatic ovarian cancer cells.
Methods: Human metastatic ovarian cancer cell line SKOV-3 was treated with various concentrations of asiatic acid for 24 and 48 h. Cell proliferation, migration, invasion and morphology were analyzed by CCK-8, Transwell and immunofluorescence assays, respectively. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition-related gene and protein expressions were analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and Western blotting.
Results: Asiatic acid (10 μM) significantly suppressed SKOV-3 cell migration and invasion (both p < 0.01). Moreover, epithelial markers (E-cad and KRT-7/14/19) were elevated, while mesenchymal markers (vimetin, N-cad and ZEB1/2) were suppressed after asiatic acid treatment, at both mRNA and protein levels. Inhibition of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition was further evidenced by immunofluorescence staining of pan-cytokeratin and F-actin.
Conclusion: Asiatic acid attenuates the malignancy of human metastatic ovarian cancer cells via epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition inhibition, and thus, is a therapeutic agent for ovarian cancer management.
Keywords: Asiatic acid, Ovarian cancer, Metastasis, Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, Vometin