Sarsaparilla (Smilax Glabra Rhizome) extract inhibits migration and invasion of cancer cells by suppressing TGF-β1 pathway

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 10; no. 3; p. e0118287
• Main Authors: She, Tiantian, Zhao, Chuanke, Feng, Junnan, Wang, Lixin, Qu, Like, Fang, Ke, Cai, Shaoqing, Shou, Chengchao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 05.03.2015; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Actin; Adhesion; Animals; Antitumor activity; Apoptosis; Cancer; Cell adhesion; Cell adhesion & migration; Cell Adhesion - drug effects; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell migration; Cell Movement - drug effects; Cell Proliferation - drug effects; Education; Female; Growth factors; Hep G2 Cells; Humans; Immunity; Immunoblotting; Invasiveness; Kinases; Laboratories; Liver; Metastases; Metastasis; Mice; Mice, Nude; Mutation; Neoplasm Invasiveness - pathology; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Polymerase chain reaction; Prostate; Proteins; Rheumatoid arthritis; Signal Transduction - drug effects; Signaling; Smilax; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 - metabolism; Transforming growth factor-b1; Vinculin; Beijing China; Southeast Asia; United States > US; China
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118287

Sarsaparilla, also known as Smilax Glabra Rhizome (SGR), was shown to modulate immunity, protect against liver injury, lower blood glucose and suppress cancer. However, its effects on cancer cell adhesion, migration and invasion were unclear. In the present study, we found that the supernatant of water-soluble extract from SGR (SW) could promote adhesion, inhibit migration and invasion of HepG2, MDA-MB-231 and T24 cells in vitro, as well as suppress metastasis of MDA-MB-231 cells in vivo. Results of F-actin and vinculin dual staining showed the enhanced focal adhesion in SW-treated cells. Microarray analysis indicated a repression of TGF-β1 signaling by SW treatment, which was verified by real-time RT-PCR of TGF-β1-related genes and immunoblotting of TGFBR1 protein. SW was also shown to antagonize TGF-β1-promoted cell migration. Collectively, our study revealed a new antitumor function of Sarsaparilla in counteracting invasiveness of a subset of cancer cells by inhibiting TGF-β1 signaling.