NATURAL PRODUCT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ›› 2025, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (4): 602-611. doi: 10.16333/j.1001-6880.2025.4.002 cstr: 32307.14.1001-6880.2025.4.002

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Mechanism of berberine inhibiting the proliferation, migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells

XIAO Xiao-qiao1, JIAN Jia-ning1, SHANG Yi-wan1, ZHOU Zhe-xu1, CHEN Yin-zhi1, LI Chen1, WANG Xin-yi1, CHEN Yu-long1,2*   

  1. 1Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine; 2Henan Key Laboratory of Signal Transduction, Zhengzhou 450003, China
  • Online:2025-04-27 Published:2025-04-27

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Abstract:

This study aims to explore the mechanism by which berberine inhibits the proliferation,migration,and invasion of gastric cancer cells (AGS and HGC27).AGS and HGC27 cells were used as the research subjects and were intervened with berberine at different concentrations (10,20,30,40,and 50 μg/mL).The MTT assay was employed to detect the inhibition rate of gastric cancer cells.The colony formation assay was used to assess the proliferation ability of gastric cancer cells.Flow cytometry was utilized to determine the cell cycle and apoptosis of gastric cancer cells.The scratch formation assay was conducted to measure the migration ability of gastric cancer cells.The Transwell assay was performed to examine the invasion ability of gastric cancer cells.Transcriptome sequencing was implemented to detect the possible mechanism of action of the drug.RT-qPCR was carried out to detect the mRNA expression of E-cadherin (E-CA),N-cadherin (N-CA),α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA),and vimentin (VIM) in gastric cancer cells.Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of E-CA,N-CA,α-SMA,VIM,and phosphorylated vimentin (P-VIM) in gastric cancer cells.Results demonstrated that compared with the blank control group,berberine significantly inhibited the cell viability of gastric cancer cells,suppressed the colony formation ability of gastric cancer cells (P<0.05),increased the number of cells arrested in the G0/G1 phase (P<0.05),promoted apoptosis of gastric cancer cells (P<0.05),and inhibited the migration and invasion abilities of gastric cancer cells (P<0.05).Berberine could reduce the mRNA and protein expression of N-CA,VIM,and α-SMA in gastric cancer cells (P<0.05),increase the mRNA and protein expression of E-CA (P<0.01),and increase the protein expression of P-VIM (P<0.01).Consequently,berberine induces apoptosis of gastric cancer cells and inhibits the in vitro activity,invasion,and migration of gastric cancer cells,which may be related to epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Key words:

gastric cancer cells, berberine, migration, invasion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition

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