Anti-proliferation and anti-invasion effects of diosgenin on gastric cancer BGC-823 cells with HIF-1α shRNAs.

Drug resistance is a major factor for the limited efficacy of chemotherapy in gastric cancer treatment. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1 alpha), a central transcriptional factor in hypoxia, is suggested to participate in the resistance. Here, we identified a hypoxia-mimic (cobalt chloride) sensitive gastric cell line BGC-823 to explore whether diosgenin, an aglycone of steroidal saponins, can inhibit cancer cell invasion and survival of solid tumor in a hypoxic mimic microenvironment. We have shown that diosgenin is a potent candidate for decreasing the ability of invasion and survival in cobalt chloride treated BGC-823 cells. In addition, when combined with HIF-1 alpha specific short hairpin RNA (shRNA), diosgenin can inhibit BGC-823 cells more effectively. The anti-invasion role of diosgenin may be related to E-cadherin, integrin alpha 5 and integrin beta 6. These results suggest that diosgenin may be a useful compound in controlling gastric cancer cells in hypoxia condition, especially when combined with down-regulated HIF-1 alpha.