Premium
Genistein inhibits nasopharyngeal cancer stem cells through sonic hedgehog signaling
Author(s) -
Zhang Qi,
Cao WanShuang,
Wang XueQi,
Zhang Min,
Lu XiaoMin,
Chen JiaQi,
Chen Yue,
Ge MiaoMiao,
Zhong CaiYun,
Han HongYu
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
phytotherapy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.019
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1573
pISSN - 0951-418X
DOI - 10.1002/ptr.6464
Subject(s) - genistein , cancer research , cancer stem cell , stem cell , sonic hedgehog , biology , signal transduction , medicine , microbiology and biotechnology
Genistein, a soy derived isoflavanoid compound, exerts anticancer effects in various cancers. Nasopharyngeal cancer stem cells (NCSCs) are a small subpopulation of cancer cells which are responsible for initiation, progression, metastasis, and recurrence of nasopharyngeal cancer. The present study aimed to investigate the suppressive effects of genistein on NCSCs and its underlying mechanism. NCSCs were enriched from human nasopharyngeal cancer cell lines CNE2 and HONE1 through tumorsphere‐forming assay. It was shown that genistein inhibited the tumorsphere formation capacity, decreased the number of EpCAM + cells, downregulated the expression of NCSCs markers, suppressed cell proliferation, and induced apoptosis of NCSCs. Genistein suppressed the activity of Sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling, which was important for the maintenance of NCSCs, while activation of SHH signaling by purmorphamine diminished the inhibitory effects of genistein on NCSCs. Our data suggested that genistein inhibited NCSCs through the suppression of SHH signaling. These findings support the use of genistein for targeting NCSCs.