Silibinin Upregulates E-Cadherin Expression in Mkn-45 Human Gastric Cancer Cells

Background and objectives: gastric cancer is currently known as one of the most important causes of cancer-driven death all over the world. in patients with gastric cancer, a significant proportion of death occurs due to metastasis. on the other hand, down modulated e-cadherin level has been reported as an important contributor to tumor cell invasion and metastasis. in this regard, the present work was aimed to evaluate the impact of silibinin, a flavonolignan with established anti-tumor efficacy, on cell viability and e-cadherin expression in the gastric cancer cell line mkn-45. methods: to determine cell viability, mtt assay was performed 48 h after silibinin treatment (at concentrations of 100, 200 and 400 μm). in addition, quantitative real-time pcr was done following total rna extraction and cdna synthesis, to assess e-cadherin level in cells treated with silibinin. results: the mtt results showed concentration-dependent reducing effect of silibinin on viability of mkn-45 cells. the findings of quantitative real-time pcr analysis demonstrated upregulated e-cadherin expression in cells treated with silibinin (significantly (p≤ 0.05) at concentration of 200 μm) compared to the control cells. conclusions: the current study suggested that silibinin may exert anti-migratory/invasive effects on gastric cancer cells by enhancing e-cadherin expression, which needs to be further investigated.