Suppression of growth, migration and invasion of highly-metastatic human breast cancer cells by berbamine and its molecular mechanisms of action Shan Wang,#1 Qian Liu,#1 Ying Zhang,#2 Ke Liu,#1 Pengfei Yu,#1 Kun Liu,1 Jinling Luan,1 Huiying Duan,1 Zhaoqiao Lu,1 Fengfei Wang,3 Erxi Wu,3 Kazumi Yagasaki,4 and Guoying Zhang1 1Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Yantai University, No 30, Qing Quan Lu, Lai Shan Qu, Yantai, Shandong Province 264005, China 2Clinical Medicine, Clinical College of Anhui Medical University, No 15, Feicuilu, Hefei, Anhui Province 230601, China 3Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, 58105, USA 4Department of Applied Biological Science, Tokyo Noko University, Saiwai-cho 3-5-8, Fuchu, Tokyo 183-8509, Japan
BACKGROUND Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among females in the United States [1]. Its rate in China and other Asian countries is also increasing rapidly [2,3]. To find novel natural compounds with low toxicity and high selectivity for killing cancer cells is an important area in cancer research. To date, chemotherapy has been the most frequently used treatment for breast cancer and other cancers. However, some normal cells are destroyed as well by this method of treatment. Due to their wide range of biological activities and low toxicity in animal models, some natural products have been used as alternative treatments for cancers including breast cancer. Berbamine (BER) is a naturally occurring small-molecule compound from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Berberis amurensis (xiaoboan). In China, BER has been used to treat the clinical patients with inflammation and various cancers including breast cancer, hepatoma, leukemia for many years. BER is also a clinical drug to treat the patients with low levels of white blood cells, which are caused by chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. The chemical structure of BER is shown in Fig. Fig.1A.1A. BER-induced apoptosis and growth inhibition of human leukemia HL-60 and K562 cell lines without cytotoxicity to normal hematopoietic cells [4-6]. It induced caspase-3-dependent apoptosis of leukemia NB4 cells via survivin-mediated pathway [7]. BER also caused apoptosis and cell cycle arrest, and led to loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and activated caspase-3 and caspase-9 in human hepatoma cells [8]. However, whether or not BER has inhibitory activities against highly-metastatic human breast cancer cells is unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of BER on growth, migration and invasion of highly-metastatic human breast cancer cells and its molecular mechanisms of action. We showed that BER inhibited the growth, migration and invasion of the highly-metastatic human breast cancer cells as well as induced the apoptosis in the cancer cells. Such anti-cancer activities of BER involved suppression of Akt and NF-κB signaling and its upstream and downstream targets by reducing expressions of the related proteins and mRNA as well as pro-MMP-9/pro-MMP-2 activation in the cells.
Results In our study, we found that BER inhibits growth of highly-metastatic human breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-435S cells dose-dependently and time-dependently. The sera from BER-treated rats suppress the growth of MDA-MB-231 cells. BER shows synergistic effects with some existing anticancer agents such as trichostatin A (TSA, the histone deacetylase inhibitor), celecoxib (the inhibitor of COX-2), and carmofur against the growth of MDA-MB-231 cells. BER also displays the strong activity of inducing apoptosis in both estrogen receptor-negative MDA-MB-231 cells and estrogen receptor-alpha-positive MCF-7 breast cancer cells, but not in normal human mammary epithelial cell line MCF10A. BER down-regulates anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 levels and up-regulates pro-apoptotic protein Bax expressions in MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-435S cells. BER also has synergistic effects with anticancer agents trichostatin A, celecoxib and/or carmofur on reducing Bcl-2/Bax ratios and VEGF secretions in MDA-MB-231 cells. In addition, BER significantly suppresses cell migration and invasion, as well as decreases pro-MMP-9/pro-MMP-2 activation in breast cancer cells. Furthermore, BER suppresses Akt and nuclear factor κB signaling by reducing the phosphorylation of c-Met and Akt, and inhibiting their downstream targets such as nuclear factor κB p-65, Bcl-2/Bax, osteopontin, VEGF, MMP-9 and MMP-2 on protein and/or mRNA levels in breast cancer cells.
Conclusion Our findings have showed that BER suppresses the growth, migration and invasion in highly-metastatic human breast cancer cells by possibly inhibiting Akt and NF-κB signaling with their upstream target c-Met and downstream targets Bcl-2/Bax, osteopontin, VEGF, MMP-9 and MMP-2. BER has synergistic effects with anticancer agents trichostatin A, celecoxib and carmofur on inhibiting the growth of MDA-MB-231 cells and reducing the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax and/or VEGF expressions in the cancer cells. These findings suggest that BER may have the wide therapeutic and/or adjuvant therapeutic application in the treatment of human breast cancer and other cancers.