Demethylzelasteral Contributes to Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma through the Wnt/β-catenin Signaling Pathway

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a common malignant tumor in China. Nowadays, no quite effective treatment is available. Therefore, seeking a new treatment is urgent. Demethylzeylasteral(T-96) isolated from Tripterygium wilfordii root bark embraces outstanding good antitumor activity. However, as for the mechanism of Demethylzeylasteril’s work on ESCC cells, it is rarely reported. In this study, it is found out that Demethylzeylasterial can inhibit the proliferation, migration and clonogenesis of ESCC cells in a dose and time dependent manner. And Demethylzeylasteril can result in the stop of G2 / M phase and induce apoptosis of ESCC cells. Besides, when observing cells processed by Demethylzeylasteral, the expression of Cyclin B1, Cyclin D1, Bcl-2, PARP1 and Survivin decreased, while the expression of BAX,Cleaved PARP1 increased. In addition, the expression of E-cadherin increased obviously, while that of N-cadherin, Vimentin and MMP9 decreased after Demethylzeylasteril treatment. Moreover, the expression of Wnt / β-Catenin pathway related proteins β-Catenin, cMyc and Wnt3a decreased. Based on our research, it is demonstrated that Demethylzeylasteral inhibits the proliferation and migration of esophageal cancer cells through the Wnt / β-catenin pathway and induces its cell cycle arrest and apoptosis.And the result indicates that Demethylzeylasteril is likely to be applied when treating ESCC patients, which lays the experimental foundation for clinical research.