Melittin Inhibits Hypoxia-Induced Vasculogenic Mimicry Formation and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition through Suppression of HIF-1α/Akt Pathway in Liver Cancer

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 CoCl2 presence. Melittin also significan...

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Published in:Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine 2019-01, Vol.2019 (2019), p.1-10
Main Authors: Cheng, Binbin, Ling, Changquan, Shu, Qijin, Chen, Peifeng, Ruan, Shanming, Liang, Shufang, Zou, Yong, Yin, Zifei, Lin, Wanfu, Chen, Qunwei, Li, Shu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
1-Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase
AKT protein
Angiogenesis
Biochemistry
Biology
Cell adhesion & migration
Cell growth
Cell migration
Cell proliferation
E-cadherin
Evidence-based medicine
Gelatinase A
Hepatocytes
Hypoxia
Liver
Liver cancer
Medical prognosis
Mesenchyme
Metastasis
Mimicry
mRNA
N-Cadherin
Tumors
Vascular endothelial growth factor
Vimentin
Xenografts
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Summary: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 CoCl2 presence. Melittin also significantly inhibited CoCl2-induced migration, invasion, and VM formation of liver cancer cells. CoCl2 treatment 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. CoCl2-induced accumulation of HIF-1α increased the level of phosphorylated Akt and upregulated the expression of VEGF and MMP-2/9. Melittin decreased the HIF-1α level and thereby suppressed the levels of p-Akt, VEGF, and MMP-2/9. In addition, the inhibitor of PI3K/Akt also suppressed CoCl2-induced EMT and liver cancer cells migration, and the activator of Akt, SC-79, partly blocked the effect of melittin on CoCl2-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-1α expression in the tumor. In conclusion, this study indicates melittin may inhibit hypoxia-induced VM formation and EMT in liver cancer through inhibiting HIF-1α/Akt pathway.
ISSN:1741-427X
1741-4288
DOI:10.1155/2019/9602935