Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide Suppresses the Migration and Invasion of Hepatic Mahlavu Cells by Modulating Fibroblast Growth Factor Signaling.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Liver cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related mortality globally, of which hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for 85-90% of total primary liver cancer. A drug shortage for HCC therapy triggered us to screen the small-molecule database with a high-throughput cellular screening system. Herein, we examined whether cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) inhibits cellular mobility and invasiveness of Mahlavu HCC cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The effects of CTAB on cell viability were assessed using WST-1 assay, cell-cycle distribution using flow cytometric analysis, migration/invasion using woundhealing and transwell assays, and associated protein levels using western blotting. RESULTS: Treatment of Mahlavu cells with CTAB transformed its mesenchymal spindle-like morphology. In addition, CTAB exerted inhibitory effects on the migration and invasion of Mahlavu cells dose-dependently. CTAB also reduced the protein levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2), MMP9, RAC family small GTPase 1, SNAIL family transcriptional repressor 1 (SNAI1), SNAI2, TWIST family basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor 1 (TWIST1), vimentin, N-cadherin, phospho-fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptor, phospho-phosphoinositide 3-kinase, phospho-v-Akt murine thymoma viral oncogene and phospho-signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 but increased the protein levels of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1/2 and E-cadherin. Rescue experiments proved that CTAB induced mesenchymal-epithelial transition in Mahlavu cells and this was significantly dose-dependently mitigated by basic FGF. CONCLUSION: CTAB suppressed the migration and invasion of Mahlavu cells through inhibition of the FGF signaling pathway. CTAB seems to be a potential agent for preventing metastasis of hepatic cancer.

Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide Disrupts the Mesenchymal Characteristics of HA22T/VGH Cells Via Inactivation of c-Met/PI3K/Akt/mTOR Pathway.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) arises from hepatocytes, and is the most frequently occurring malignancy of primary liver cancer. In this study, we investigated the anti-metastatic effects of the quaternary ammonium compound, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), on HA22T/VGH HCC cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: According to our preliminary data, the effect of CTAB on cell cycle distribution, migration, invasion and the associated protein levels was examined using flow cytometry, wound-healing migration, Matrigel transwell invasion assay and western blotting under sub-lethal concentrations. RESULTS: CTAB treatment of HA22T/VGH cells casued dose-dependent mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET)-like changes and impaired migration and invasion capabilities. In addition, CTAB reduced the levels of metastasis-related proteins including c-Met, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), Akt, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), ribosomal protein S6 kinase (p70S6K), Twist, N-cadherin, and Vimentin. Moreover, pretreatment with hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) rescued CTAB-mediated effects. CONCLUSION: CTAB exhibited potent anti-EMT and anti-metastatic activities through the inhibition of migration and invasion of HA22T/VGH cells. CTAB interrupted the mesenchymal characteristics of HA22T/VGH cells, which were significantly alleviated by HGF in a dose-dependent manner. CTAB has the potential to evolve as a therapeutic agent for HCC.

Investigating the effectiveness of an educational card game for learning how human immunology is regulated.

This study was conducted in an attempt to investigate the effectiveness of an educational card game we developed for learning human immunology. Two semesters of evaluation were included to examine the impact of the game on students' understanding and perceptions of the game-based instruction. Ninety-nine senior high school students (11th graders) were recruited for the first evaluation, and the second-semester group consisted of 72 students (also 11th graders). The results obtained indicate that students did learn from the educational card game. Moreover, students who learned from playing the game significantly outperformed their counterparts in terms of their understanding of the processes and connections among different lines of immunological defense (first semester: t = 2.92, p < 0.01; second semester: t = 3.45, p < 0.01) according to the qualitative analysis of an open-ended question. They generally had positive perceptions toward the game-based instruction and its learning efficiency, and they felt the game-based instruction was much more interesting than traditional didactic lectures (first semester: t = 2.79, p < 0.01; second semester: t = 2.41, p < 0.05). This finding is evidence that the educational card game has potential to facilitate students' learning of how the immune system works. The implications and suggestions for future work are further discussed.