Marine Bromophenol Bis (2,3-Dibromo-4,5-dihydroxy-phenyl)-methane Inhibits the Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells via Modulating [beta]1-Integrin/FAK Signaling

• Published in: Marine drugs 2015-02, Vol.13 (2), p.1010
• Main Authors: Wu, Ning, Luo, Jiao, Jiang, Bo, Wang, Lijun, Wang, Shuaiyu, Wang, Changhui, Fu, Changqing, Li, Jian, Shi, Dayong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1660-3397
• DOI: 10.3390/md13021010

Bis (2,3-dibromo-4,5-dihydroxy-phenyl)-methane (BDDPM) is a natural bromophenol compound derived from marine algae. Previous reports have shown that BDDPM possesses antimicrobial activity. In the present study, we found that BDDPM has cytotoxic activity on a wide range of tumor cells, including BEL-7402 cells (IC50 = 8.7 μg/mL). Further studies have shown that prior to the onset of apoptosis, the BDDPM induces BEL-7402 cell detachment by decreasing the adherence of cells to the extracellular matrix (ECM). Detachment experiments have shown that the treatment of BEL-7402 cells with low concentrations of BDDPM (5.0 μg/mL) significantly inhibits cell adhesion to fibronectin and collagen IV as well as cell migration and invasion. High doses of BDDPM (10.0 μg/mL) completely inhibit the migration of BEL-7402 cells, and the expression level of MMPs (MMP-2 and MMP-9) is significantly decreased. Moreover, the expression of β1-integrin and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is found to be down-regulated by BDDPM. This study suggests that BDDPM has a potential to be developed as a novel anticancer therapeutic agent due to its anti-metastatic activity and also indicates that BDDPM, which has a unique chemical structure, could serve as a lead compound for rational drug design and for future development of anticancer agents.