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PURPOSE: C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) signaling has been demonstrated to be involved in cancer invasion and migration; therefore, CXCR4 antagonist can serve as an anti-cancer drug by preventing tumor metastasis. This study aimed to identify the CXCR4 antagonists that could reduce and/or inhibit tumor metastasis from natural products. METHODS AND RESULTS: According to the molecular docking screening, we reported here silibinin as a novel CXCR4 antagonist. Biochemical characterization showed that silibinin blocked chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12)-induced CXCR4 internalization by competitive binding to CXCR4, therefore inhibiting downstream intracellular signaling. In human breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231, which expresses high levels of CXCR4, inhibition of CXCL12-induced chemomigration can be found under silibinin treatment. Overexpression of CXCL12 sensitized MDA-MB-231 cells to the inhibition of silibinin, which was abolished by CXCR4 knockdown. The inhibition of silibinin was also observed in MCF-7/CXCR4 cells rather than MCF-7 cells that express low level of CXCR4. CONCLUSIONS: Our work demonstrated that silibinin is a novel CXCR4 antagonist that may have potential therapeutic use for prevention of tumor metastasis.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/j.phymed.2014.06.018

Type

Journal article

Journal

Phytomedicine

Publication Date

25/09/2014

Volume

21

Pages

1310 - 1317

Keywords

Breast cancer, CXCR4 antagonist, Chemomigration, Molecular docking, Silibinin, Cell Line, Tumor, Cell Movement, Chemokine CXCL12, Female, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, Humans, MCF-7 Cells, Molecular Docking Simulation, Receptors, CXCR4, Signal Transduction, Silybin, Silymarin