Abstract
Baicalein, a prominent flavonoid from the indigenous herbal plant Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, possesses broad-spectrum anticancer activities. However, the biological effects of baicalein on nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and its underlying mechanisms remain unclarified. Thus, in this study, we examined the effects of baicalein on NPC cell lines and investigated the corresponding molecular mechanism through transcriptome profiling. In the study, four NPC cell lines were treated with various concentrations of baicalein at different time points. Cellular toxicity and proliferative inhibition of baicalein were examined by MTT assay. Metastatic phenotypes of NPC cells were investigated by wound healing, transwell, and adhesion assays. Additionally, microarray experiments were performed to determine the cellular pathways affected by baicalein. The expression and localization of the integrin β8 were validated by western immunoblotting and immunofluorescence. Our results revealed that baicalein exhibited its cytotoxicity and antiproliferative activity on all tested NPC cell lines. It also significantly inhibited metastatic phenotypes at sub-lethal concentrations. Transcriptomic analysis showed that baicalein significantly affected the focal adhesion pathway in NPC, where integrin β8 was greatly diminished. Thus, the present study results suggested that baicalein inhibits the metastatic phenotypes of NPC cells by modulating integrin β8, one of the major molecules in a focal adhesion pathway.
Highlights
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a subtype of head and neck cancer arising from the mucosal epithelium of the nasopharynx
These results indicate that baicalein exerts the growth inhibitory effects on NPC cells
A previous study on NPC with baicalein showed that a decrease in cell viability of an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive NPC cell line was mediated through the downregulation of transcription factor specificity protein 1 (Sp1) and reduction in the EBNA1 activity in a doseand time-dependent manner [25]
Summary
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a subtype of head and neck cancer arising from the mucosal epithelium of the nasopharynx. NPC incidence is rare in most parts of the world, it is highly prevalent in East and Southeast Asia [1,2]. The symptoms of NPC are not frequently shown and clearly identified owing to its latent development [2]. The etiology of NPC is complex and multifactorial, involving sex, environment, ethnicity, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, food consumption, and genome instability influences [2,3]. NPC appears to be up to three-fold more prevalent in males than females [3]. Individuals with East or Southeast Asian backgrounds exhibit a higher risk of NPC than other ethnic groups [2,4]
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