This study indicates melittin may inhibit hypoxia-induced vasculogenic mimicry formation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in liver cancer. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Melittin Inhibits Hypoxia-Induced Vasculogenic Mimicry Formation and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition through Suppression of HIF-1α/Akt Pathway in Liver Cancer.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019 ;2019:9602935. Epub 2019 Apr 1. PMID: 31057657
Qunwei Chen
In this study, we investigated whether melittin could suppress hypoxia-induced vasculogenic mimicry (VM) formation in liver cancer and explored the underlying mechanisms. Melittin significantly inhibited the proliferation of liver cancer cells with or without CoClpresence. Melittin also significantly inhibited CoCl-induced migration, invasion, and VM formation of liver cancer cells. CoCltreatment suppressed the expression of E-cadherin and elevated the expression of N-cadherin and Vimentin. Melittin reversed the changes in the protein and mRNA levels of these epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers. CoCl-induced accumulation of HIF-1increased the level of phosphorylated Akt and upregulated the expression of VEGF and MMP-2/9. Melittin decreased the HIF-1level and thereby suppressed the levels of p-Akt, VEGF, and MMP-2/9. In addition, the inhibitor of PI3K/Akt also suppressed CoCl-induced EMT and liver cancer cells migration, and the activator of Akt, SC-79, partly blocked the effect of melittin on CoCl-induced EMT and liver cancer cells migration. In the xenograft tumor model in nude mice, melittin treatment significantly suppressed the tumor growth, VM formation, and HIF-1expression in the tumor. In conclusion, this study indicates melittin may inhibit hypoxia-induced VM formation and EMT in liver cancer through inhibiting HIF-1/Akt pathway.