Wogonoside inhibits invasion and migration through suppressing TRAF2/4 expression in breast cancer

BACKGROUND Twist1 is involved in tumor initiation and progression, which especially contributes to tumor invasion and metastasis. Wogonoside is the main in-vivo metabolite of wogonin, and it is also a natural product with potential treatment effects against cancer. METHODS In this study, we investigated the in-vitro anti-invasion and in-vivo anti-metastasis effects of wogonoside on breast cancer cells and uncovered its underlying mechanism. RESULTS The results showed that wogonoside could suppress the growth and metastasis of breast tumor in the orthotopic model of MDA-MB-231 cells. We found that wogonoside could reduce the overexpression of TNF-α, TRAF2 and TRAF4 in later stage of tumor, and improved tumor microenvironment. Therefore, TNF-α was utilized to induce metastases of breast cancer cell in vitro. Wogonoside could inhibit invasion and migration in TNF-α-induced MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-435, and BT-474 cells. Mechanically, wogonoside inactivated NF-κB signaling through decreasing the protein expression of TRAF2/4, which further inhibited Twist1 expression. Consequently, wogonoside could down-regulate MMP-9, MMP-2, vimentin and CD44v6 expression in TNF-α-induced MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-435 cells. Then, these findings were proved in TNF-α + TGF-β1-induced MCF7 cells. CONCLUSIONS Wogonoside might be a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of tumor metastasis in breast cancer.