Meloxicam suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation and migration by targeting COX-2/PGE2-regulated activation of the β-catenin signaling pathway

Li,Tao; Zhong,Jingtao; Dong,Xiaofeng; Xiu,Peng; Wang,Fuhai; Wei,Honglong; Wang,Xin; Xu,Zongzhen; Liu,Feng; Sun,Xueying; Li,Jie

doi:10.3892/or.2016.4764

Meloxicam suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation and migration by targeting COX-2/PGE2-regulated activation of the β-catenin signaling pathway

Authors:
- Tao Li
- Jingtao Zhong
- Xiaofeng Dong
- Peng Xiu
- Fuhai Wang
- Honglong Wei
- Xin Wang
- Zongzhen Xu
- Feng Liu
- Xueying Sun
- Jie Li
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Affiliations: Department of General Surgery, Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250014, P.R. China, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The People's Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, P.R. China, The Hepatosplenic Surgery Center, Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, P.R. China
Published online on: April 20, 2016 https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2016.4764
Pages: 3614-3622

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Abstract

Recurrence and metastasis are the two leading causes of poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 is overexpressed in many types of cancers including HCC and promotes its metastasis. Meloxicam is a selective COX-2 inhibitor that has been reported to exert an anti-proliferation and invasion/migration response in various tumors. In this study, we examined the role of meloxicam on HCC cell proliferation and migration and explored the molecular mechanisms underlying this effect. We found that meloxicam inhibited HCC cell proliferation and had a cell cycle arrest effect in human HCC cells. Furthermore, meloxicam suppressed the ability of HCC cells expressing higher levels of COX-2 and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) to migration via potentiating expression of E-cadherin and alleviating expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and -9. COX-2/PGE2 has been considered to activate the β-catenin signaling pathway which promotes cancer cell migration. We found that treatment with PGE2 significantly enhanced nuclear accumulation of β-catenin and the activation of GSK3β which could be reversed by meloxicam in HCC cells. We also observed that HCC cell migration and upregulation of the level of MMP-2/9 and downregulation of E-cadherin induced by PGE2 were suppressed by FH535, an inhibitor of β-catenin. Taken together, these findings provide a new treatment strategy against HCC proliferation and migration.

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