Osthole suppresses hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition via repression of the c-Met/Akt/mTOR pathway in human breast cancer cells

J Agric Food Chem. 2011 Sep 14;59(17):9683-90. doi: 10.1021/jf2021489. Epub 2011 Aug 8.

Abstract

Substantial activation of the HGF/c-Met signaling pathway is involved in the progression of several types of cancers and associated with increased tumor invasion and metastatic potential. Underlying HGF-induced tumorigenesis, epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) shows a positive correlation with progression in patients. We previously determined that osthole is a potent fatty acid synthase (FASN) inhibitor. FASN is implicated in cancer progression and may regulate lipid raft function. We therefore examined whether osthole could block HGF-induced tumorigenesis by disrupting lipid rafts. Here, we found that osthole could abrogate HGF-induced cell scattering, migration, and invasion in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Osthole also effectively inhibited the HGF-induced decrease of E-cadherin and increase of vimentin via down-regulation of phosphorylated Akt and mTOR. Interestingly, osthole blocked HGF-induced c-Met phosphorylation and repressed the expression of total c-Met protein in MCF-7 cells. In addition, C75, a pharmacological inhibitor of FASN, repressed the expression of total c-Met protein in MCF-7 cells. Consistent with a role for FASN, loss of c-Met in cells treated with osthole was prevented by the exogenous addition of palmitate. Briefly, our result suggests a connection between FASN activity and c-Met protein expression and that osthole is a potential compound for breast cancer therapy by targeting the major pathway of HGF/c-Met-induced EMT.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Coumarins / pharmacology*
  • Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / drug effects
  • Hepatocyte Growth Factor / pharmacology*
  • Humans
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness
  • Phosphorylation / drug effects
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / physiology
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met / physiology
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / physiology

Substances

  • Coumarins
  • Hepatocyte Growth Factor
  • MTOR protein, human
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
  • TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases
  • osthol