Effects of total flavonoids of Clerodendrum bungei on epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of A549 cells by regulating Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the effect of the total flavonoids of Clerodendrum Bungei (TFCB) on proliferation, invasion and migration of A549 cell lines by Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway. Methods Transfecting A549 cell lines with empty vector pcDNA3.1 and β-catenin plasmid which has the mutation at S45 (S45A-β-catenin), which were intervened with TFCB. MTT assay detected cell proliferation, scratch test observed cell migration, Transwell experiment detected the cell invasion. The expression of β-catenin, E-Cadherin, vimentin, Slug, GSK-3β, and p-GSK-3β protein in each group was detected by Western blotting. Results The proliferation, invasion and migration of A549 cells were enhanced significantly after transfected with S45A-β-catenin plasmid (P < 0.05 or 0.01), along with the increasing expression of β-catenin, vimentin, and the reducing expression of E-cadherin, GSK-3β, P-GSK-3β (P < 0.01). TFCB can inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of A549 cells (P < 0.05), expecially in S45A-β-catenin group (P < 0.001). A549 cells transfected with empty vector had the ability of up-regulating the expression of E-cadherin, GSK-3β and P-GSK-3β, down-regulating the expression of β-catenin and vimentin with TFCB. A549 cells transfected with S45A-β-catenin plasmid had the ability of down-regulating the expression of β-catenin and vimentin with TFCB. Conclusion The mechanism of inhibiting lung cancer of TFCB maybe associate with the inhibitory expression of β-catenin and regulate the downstream factors, with view to inducing EMT by activating Wnt/β-catenin pathway.