Effects of Musca domestica cecropin on the adhesion and migration of human hepatocellular carcinoma BEL-7402 cells.

This study was designed to explore the effects of Musca domestica antimicrobial peptides cecropin on the adhesion and migration of human hepatocellular carcinoma BEL-7402 cells. The adhesive and migratory capacities were determined by adhesion assay and transwell assay, respectively. The changes in microvilli of tumor cells were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Western blotting and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) were carried out to determine the expression levels of proteins related to adhesion and migration, such as matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2), tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP2), and epithelial cadherin (E-cadherin). We found that Musca domestica cecropin inhibited the adhesion and migration of BEL-7402 cells, which also displayed curling microvilli, increased ball structures on cell surface, gradually broken connections between tumor cells, and even disappeared microvilli on some cells. The expression of MMP2 was significantly reduced after cecropin treatment, while the levels of TIMP2 and E-cadherin were significantly increased. These results suggest that Musca domestica cecropin inhibits the adhesion and migration of human hepatocellular carcinoma BEL-7402 cells by destroying the microvilli of tumor cells and changing the expression of MMP2, TIMP2 and E-cadherin.