Honokiol inhibits the growth of SKBR3 cells

He Shi; Yange Wang; Mengli Yao; Dian Zhang; Wenli Fang; Ting Zhou; Delu Gan; Shujun Yue; Husun Qian; Tingmei Chen

doi:10.21037/tcr-20-3110

Honokiol inhibits the growth of SKBR3 cells

Transl Cancer Res. 2020 Dec;9(12):7596-7604. doi: 10.21037/tcr-20-3110.

Authors

He Shi^#¹, Yange Wang^#¹, Mengli Yao¹, Dian Zhang¹, Wenli Fang¹, Ting Zhou¹, Delu Gan¹, Shujun Yue¹, Husun Qian¹, Tingmei Chen¹

Affiliation

¹ Key Laboratory of Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics (Ministry of Education), College of Laboratory Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is one of the most malignant tumors in the reproductive system and has a poor prognosis. Finding drugs with high efficiency, low side-effects, and low cost has become a research hotspot.

Methods: In the present study, we treated SK-BR-3 cells with different doses of honokiol. Crystal violet staining method was used to detect changes in the total number of living cells; 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay was used to detect the effect of honokiol on SK-BR-3 cell proliferation. Cell migration ability change was determined by wound healing assay. Cell invasion ability change was determined by Transwell migration assay. Flow cytometry was used to detect the apoptotic rate of SK-BR-3 cells, and Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of proliferation-associated protein (PCNA); migration- and invasion-related protein matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2); vimentin; apoptosis-related proteins Bcl-xl, caspase 3, and cleaved caspase 3 (CC3); and β-catenin and its downstream target molecule c-Myc.

Results: Compared with the control group, different doses of honokiol have different degrees of inhibitory effects on cells, including proliferation and invasion and migration (P<0.01). After treatment with 50 or 60 µmol·L^-1 honokiol, the apoptotic rate of SK-BR-3 cells increased (both P<0.01); PCNA expression was significantly downregulated (P<0.01). Intracellular accumulation of apoptosis-related proteins Bcl-xl and caspase-3 decreased but C-C3 increased. We also found downregulation of MMP-2 expression, a protein related to invasion and migration (P<0.01), and a decrease in the expression levels of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway-related proteins β-catenin and c-Myc (P<0.01).

Conclusions: Honokiol can promote the apoptosis of SK-BR-3 cells and can inhibit the proliferation, migration, and invasion of human breast cancer SK-BR-3 cells. The underlying mechanism may be through inhibiting the activation of the Wnt signaling pathway.

Keywords: Breast cancer; SK-BR-3 cells; apoptosis; cell proliferation; honokiol.