Ethyl Acetate Fraction from Hedyotis diffusa plus Scutellaria barbata Suppresses Migration of Bone-Metastatic Breast Cancer Cells via OPN-FAKERKNF-κB Axis

Abstract EN

Hedyotis diffusa plus Scutellaria barbata is a couplet of medicinal that has been commonly used to treat inflammation-related diseases and various types of tumors.

However, the effect of this couplet on tumor cell migration has not been elucidated.

With the aid of MCF-7-BOM, a bone-metastatic subline of ER + breast cancer MCF-7, we showed that ethyl acetate fraction extracted at an equal weight ratio of Hedyotis diffusa plus Scutellaria barbata (EA11) inhibited cell migration of MCF-7-BOM in a concentration-dependent manner.

To define the underlying molecular mechanism, we revealed that EA11 reduced the expression of osteopontin (OPN) and interfered with the FAK/ERK/NF-κB signaling pathways, which are both critical for breast cancer bone metastasis.

This study strongly suggested EA11 may represent a potential therapeutic agent against bone metastasis of breast cancer.