Ampelopsin inhibited apoptosis and migration of SMMC-7721 cells through MAPKs signaling pathway / 药学学报

ABSTRACT

This research is aimed to investigate the effect of ampelopsin on apoptosis and migration of human hepatoma SMMC-7721 cells and explore the molecular mechanism. SMMC-7721 cells were pretreated with different doses of ampelopsin and cells proliferation was detected by CCK8 kit. Cell morphology was observed under an inverted microscope. Nuclear morphology was detected by DAPI staining. Apoptotic rate was detected by Annexin V-FITC/PI flow cytometry. Migration and invasion were detected by Transwell and scratch healing test. Western blotting was used to detect cleavage of poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP), expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), E-cadherin, and N-cadherin, and phosphorylation of ERK, P38 and JNK in MAPKs pathway. Our results showed that ampelopsin significantly inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis of SMMC-7721 cells, with half inhibition dose (IC50) for 24 h was 38.98 μg·mL-1. With 50 μg·mL-1 ampelopsin treatment, typical apoptotic morphological changes occurred, such as cell detachment, shrinkage and nuclear condensation. Apoptotic rate increased from 15% to 55.1%, with PARP cleavage significantly increased. In addition, treatment of ampelopsin reduced scratch healing of cells and transmembrane cells number. The expression levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were decreased. Further analysis of EMT-related proteins showed that after ampelopsin treatment, E-cadherin was up-regulated and N-cadherin was down-regulated. During ampelopsin treatment, ERK reached its peak of activation after 1 h, while the maximum activation time of JNK was 12 h. Meanwhile, P38 was activated within 4 h, with the highest point at 2 h. But after 4 h, ampelopsin inhibited phosphorylation of P38. These results indicated that ampelopsin induced apoptosis and reduced migration through activating MAPKs pathway and reversing EMT process in SMMC-7721 cells. This work provides a mechanistic basis for utilizing ampelopsin for anti-hepatocarcinoma treatment.