Baicalein suppresses the proliferation and invasiveness of colorectal cancer cells by inhibiting Snail‑induced epithelial‑mesenchymal transition

Zeng,Qiongyao; Zhang,Yu; Zhang,Wenjing; Guo,Qiang

doi:10.3892/mmr.2020.11051

Baicalein suppresses the proliferation and invasiveness of colorectal cancer cells by inhibiting Snail‑induced epithelial‑mesenchymal transition

Authors:
- Qiongyao Zeng
- Yu Zhang
- Wenjing Zhang
- Qiang Guo
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Affiliations: Faculty of Life Science and Biotechnology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, P.R. China, Department of Gastroenterology, The First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province, Kunming, Yunnan 650032, P.R. China, Faculty of Medicine, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, P.R. China
Published online on: April 1, 2020 https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2020.11051
Pages: 2544-2552
Copyright: © Zeng et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Scutellaria baicalensis (S. baicalensis) is a plant that is widely used for medicinal purposes. Baicalein, one of the primary bioactive compounds found in S. baicalensis, is thought to possess antitumor activity, although the specific mechanisms remain unclear. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the ability of baicalein to disrupt the proliferation and metastatic potential of colorectal cancer (CRC) cells; a rapid and sensitive ultra‑high performance liquid chromatography‑tandem mass spectrometric method was employed for the identification of baicalein in an S. baicalensis aqueous extract and in rat plasma. To investigate the effects of baicalein, Cell Counting Kit‑8 (CCK‑8), western blotting, wound‑healing and Transwell assays were performed. The data indicated that baicalein was absorbed into the blood and was able to effectively disrupt the proliferation, migration and invasion abilities of CRC cells in a dose‑ and time‑dependent manner. Baicalein treatment was also revealed to decrease the expression of epithelial‑mesenchymal transition (EMT)‑promoting factors including vimentin, Twist1, and Snail, but to upregulate the expression of E‑cadherin in CRC cells. The expression levels of cell cycle inhibitory proteins p53 and p21 also increased following baicalein treatment. In addition, Snail‑induced vimentin and Twist1 upregulation, as well as E‑cadherin downregulation, were reversed following treatment with baicalein. In conclusion, the results of the present study indicate that baicalein may suppress EMT, at least in part, by decreasing Snail activity.

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