RESUMO
18ß-glycyrrhetinic acid (18ß-GA) is a bioactive component of licorice root which exerts pharmacological activities including anti-inflammatory, antiviral, anti-oxidative and anti-cancer effects. The current study further investigated the molecular mechanisms associated with the inhibitory effects of 18ß-GA on tumor metastasis in human gastric cancer cells. The results indicated that 18ß-GA significantly reduced invasion and migration activities and suppressed MMP-2 and 9 activities on SGC-7901cells in a dose-dependent manner. Further study showed 18ß-GA upregulated E-cadherin expression but downregulated vimentin expression. The results also showed that 18ß-GA inhibited ROS formation, PKC-α expression and the phosphorylation of ERK in a dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, this study revealed that 18ß-GA inhibits migration and invasion via the ROS/PKC-α/ERK signaling pathway in gastric cancer cells. This suggests that 18ß-GA has the potential to be used as an effective chemopreventive agent for the prevention of gastric cancer metastasis.