Dendrofalconerol A suppresses migrating cancer cells via EMT and integrin proteins

Background/aim: Enhanced cell motility is a hallmark of highly metastatic cancer cells. The anti-migratory activity of Dendrofalconerol A (DF-A), a pure bis(bibenzyls) isolated from the stem of Dendrobium falconeri (Orchidaceae) is reported in the present study.

Materials and methods: Cytotoxicity effects of DF-A on H460 lung cancer cells was determined by the MTT assay. We also investigated the mechanism of DF-A-mediated EMT and integrin proteins level by western blotting.

Results: DF-A at concentrations of 0.5-5 μM significantly reduced the protein level of migrating cells in a dose-dependent manner. The expression of migration-related integrins, including integrin β1 and integrin α4 was significantly reduced in response to DF-A treatment. Also, DF-A was shown to suppress epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), as indicated by cadherin switch from N- to E-cadherin and decrease of Snail, Slug and vimentin.

Conclusion: This study revealed the potential of DF-A, an anti-metastasis agent and the underlying mechanism in this in vitro assay with H460 cells, which leads to the development of a novel anti-metastatic agent.