Berberine inhibits chemotherapy-exacerbated ovarian cancer stem cell-like characteristics and metastasis through GLI1

作者：Zhao, Yawei; Yang, Xuehan; Zhao, Jingtong; Gao, Mohan; Zhang, Min; Shi, Tongfei; Zhang, Fan; Zheng, Xiao; Pan, Yue; Shao, Dan; Li, Jing; He, Kan^*; Chen, Li^*

来源：European Journal of Pharmacology, 2021, 895: 173887.

DOI：10.1016/j.ejphar.2021.173887

• Berberine
• Ovarian cancer
• Chemotherapy
• Migration
• Cancer stem cell

Despite the remarkable clinical response in ovarian cancer therapy, the distinctively high metastasis rate is still a barrier to achieve satisfying prognosis. Our study aimed to decipher the role of berberine in inhibiting chemotherapy-exacerbated ovarian cancer metastasis. We found that chemotherapy exacerbated the migration and cancer stem cell (CSC)-like characteristics through transcriptional factor GLI1, which regulated the pluripotency-associated gene BMI1 and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers Vimentin and Snail. Berberine could not only down-regulate CSC-like characteristics but also reverse EMT and migration through inhibiting chemotherapy-activated GLI1/BMI1 signaling pathway. Together, our study revealed the pivotal role of berberine in overcoming chemotherapy-exacerbated ovarian cancer metastasis, thereby provided a potential adjuvant therapeutic agent in combination with chemotherapeutics to prevent metastasis during ovarian cancer chemotherapy.

• 单位
  吉林大学