Background & objective: Cantharidin, a natural toxin, has specific antitumor actions. Many researches confirmed that nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) closely relates with invasion and metastasis of tumor. This study was designed to investigate inhibitory effect of cantharidin on metastasis-related ability of human highly metastatic ovarian carcinoma cell line HO-8910PM, and its mechanism.
Methods: MTT assay was used to examine cytotoxicity of cantharidin on HO-8910PM cells. Effect of cantharidin on adhesion potential of HO-8910PM cells was tested by cell-Matrigel adhesion assay. Transwell chamber assay was performed to determine its effect on invasion and migration capacities of HO-8910PM cells. Protein levels of NF-kappaB P65 subunit and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were assessed by Western blot.
Results: After 6-h treatment of 20 micromol/L of cantharidin, inhibitory rate of HO-8910PM cells was (8.4+/-2.2)%, inhibitory rates of invasion, migration, and adhesion capacities of HO-8910PM cells were (38.8+/-1.7)%, (40.3+/-5.6)%, and (55.1+/-6.7)%, respectively; protein levels of NF-kappaB P65 subunit and VEGF were down-regulated.
Conclusions: Cantharidin can inhibit migration, invasion, and adhesion of HO-8910PM cells. Its possible mechanism may be involved in down-regulations of NF-kappaB P65 subunit and VEGF.