Eupatilin inhibits angiogenesis-mediated human hepatocellular metastasis by reducing MMP-2 and VEGF signaling.

Metastasis is responsible for the great majority of deaths in cancer patients. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have critical functions in cancer metastasis. Especially, MMP-2 and MMP-9 play a major role in tumor-cell migration and invasion. Therefore, to first find out the inhibitory effect of eupatilin on expression of MMPs in SNU182 cells, we used quantitative real-rime PCR to measure MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA levels. Eupatilin suppressed transcription of MMP-2 in SNU182 cells more than did the corresponding controls. Also, eupatilin significantly blocked tube formation when treated with a concentration of 3.125 or 6.25 μg/mL on human umbilical vein vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs). Eupatilin induced significant anti-angiogenic potential associated with down-regulation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and phosphorylated Akt expression. Thus, tube-formation inhibition and MMP-2-mediated migration are likely to be important therapeutic targets of eupatilin in hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis.