癌細胞的轉移擴散( metastasis )往往是癌症病人在臨床治療上預後的一個重要指標，若能有效抑制癌細胞的轉移，將有助於延長癌症病患之壽命。龍葵在台灣民間俗稱烏子仔菜，屬野生植物，材料隨手可得，在本篇中証實，龍葵萃取物(SNWE與SNPE)能夠有效抑制肝癌細胞的移行作用、浸潤作用，透過分析相關蛋白的表現發現，龍葵萃取物(SNWE與SNPE)能夠降低PKCα的表現，影響下游p38的磷酸化，並能夠調節Rho GTPases (RhoA, cdc42, Rac1)的表現，另一方面，龍葵萃取物(SNWE與SNPE)也能夠減少Integrin的訊息傳遞路徑，進而影響細胞的移行作用。為了證明PKCα在龍葵萃取物抑制肝癌細胞轉移之重要性，我們以PKCα的抑制劑證實，抑制PKCα的活性確實能夠影響細胞之移動能力；而送入持續活化態的PKCα也證實能夠減少龍葵萃取物對於肝癌細胞的影響。最後利用不同的癌細胞證實，龍葵萃取物抑制癌細胞之轉移，並不侷限於肝癌細胞HepG2。總括所有的結果可以說明，龍葵萃取物確實能夠抑制肝癌細胞的轉移，而其中的詳細機制雖尚需更進一步去證實，但希望如此的發現可以幫助減輕臨床病患的負擔。 Metastasis is one of the most complicated and major pathologic processes responsible for poor prognosis of cancer patients. Studies of the molecular mechanisms for these processes are important for developing more effective antimetastatic strategies. Solanum nigrum L. is a common herb that grows wildly and abundantly in open fields. In this study, we have demonstrated that the water extract of Solanum nigrum L. (SNWE) and polyphenol-rich extract of Solanum nigrum L. (SNPE) suppressed TPA-induced HepG2 cell migration and invasion. To investigate the mechanisms of inhibited migration by SNWE and SNPE, we observed that SNWE and SNPE could reduce the PKCα-p38 pathway, Rho GTPase family and integrin signal pathway. Overexpression of constitutively active PKCα may restore the inactivation of p38 and the attenuation of cell migration by SNWE and SNPE. This study may have valuable implications for developing new therapies for clinical patient.
