Lycium barbarum Polysaccharide (LBP) Inhibits Breast Cancer Migration and Invasion Through PI3K/AKT/mTOR Signaling Pathway

In this study, MCF-7 breast cancer cells were treated with various concentrations of polysaccharide (LBP) for different time intervals. Then cells from each group were subjected to proliferation, migration and invasion assays. Expression of invasion-associated genes including nm23-h1, RhoC, MTA1, TIMP-1/2 and MMP-2/9 were detected by western blot and quantitative real-time PCR (RT-PCR). In addition, we also detected the relevant proteins in the cell PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. LBP shows a protective effect on breast cancer cells against malignant invasion and alters the expression of invasion-related genes. LBP possesses remarkable anti-invasion activities which make it a novel and potential supplementary therapeutic agent against breast carcinoma metastasis in future clinical trials. We also demonstrated that the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway partially accounted for the beneficial effects of LBP on human breast cancer cells. In conclusion, LBP possesses remarkable anti-invasion activity in breast cancer and therefore can be a promising anticancer agent in the treatment of breast cancer distant metastasis caused by malignant invasion.