Emodin inhibits the proliferation and invasion of bladder cancer cells via down-regulating Notch1

Emodin exhibits anti-proliferative effects in numerous cancer cell lines via different mechanisms. The present study aimed to study the effects and underlying molecular mechanisms of emodin on bladder cancer cells. We treated two bladder cancer cell lines, T24 and 5637, with different concentrations of emodin (20, 40 and 80 μmol/L) or DMSO (Control). We analyzed the biological effects of emodin on cell growth, invasion, as well as the mRNA and protein expression of Notch1, Jagged1, VEGF, VEGFR2 and MMP2 using Cell Counting Kit-8, transwell, reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and western blot assays. Emodin repressed cell growth, invasion and Notch1 expression in a concentration-dependent fashion. And Notch1 over-expression assay showed that the anti-proliferative and anti-invasive roles of emodin, along with the down-regulated effects on the expression of Notch1, Jagged1, VEGF, VEGFR2 and MMP2 were partially rescued by Notch1 over-expression. In conclusion, Emodin might suppress the progression of bladder cancer via inhibiting the expression of Notch1.