The anti-metastatic activity of a chinese herb Andrographis paniculata in esophageal cancer - a preclinical study

Abstract

Esophageal cancer is usually diagnosed at advanced stage with high postoperative recurrence and systemic metastasis which leads to poor prognosis. In the present study, the in vitro anti-metastatic effects of the herb Andrographis paniculata (AP), a herbal medicine widely used in both Chinese and Indian traditional medicines, were evaluated in two esophageal cancer cell lines, EC-109 and KYSE-520. The cytotoxicities of AP aqueous and ethanolic extracts were determined by MTT assay. The effects of AP extracts at non-toxic concentrations were assessed using scratch wound and cell invasion assays. Our results showed that AP ethanolic extract (50µg/ml) and aqueous extract (800–1600µg/ml) significantly decreased the closed wound area in both cell lines, suggesting inhibitory effects on motility of cells. Unlike the ethanolic extract which has no inhibitory effect, AP aqueous extract (1600µg/ml) significantly inhibited the invasion of EC-109 and KYSE-520 cells through the Transwell. Besides, using real-time PCR, mRNA expression of metastasis-related gene TM4SF3 was significantly decreased in AP aqueous extract-treated EC-109 cells. To conclude, this is the first report of the inhibitory effects of AP aqueous extract on both migration and invasion of esophageal cancer cells EC-109 and KYSE-520, and also suppression of the metastasis-related gene TM4SF3 expression.