Influence of luteolin on the invasion and migration of an human tongue squamous carcinoma cell line

To investigate the effects of luteolin on the invasion and migration of the human tongue squamous carcinoma cell line SCCl5.

SCC15 cells were treated with various concentrations of luteolin (5, 10, 15, 20, 40 and 60 μg/mL) for 24, 48 and 72 h. The MTT assay was then carried out to estimate the proliferation of SCC15 cells treated with various concentrations of luteolin. SCC15 cells were treated with various concentrations of luteolin (1, 5 and 10 μg/mL), and the migration of SCC15 cells was examined in wound healing assays. SCC15 cells were treated with various concentrations of luteolin (5 and 10 μg/mL) for 24 h, and the migration and invasion of the cells were examined in Transwell migration/invasion assays. SCC15 cells were treated with various concentrations of luteolin (10, 20 and 40 μg/mL) for 24 h, and the conditioned medium was collected. The levels of the gelatinases matrix metalloproteinases-2 and -9 (MMP-2, MMP-9) in the conditional medium were detected by gelatin zymography assays.

The MTT assay showed that luteolin had a substantial inhibitory effect on the proliferation of SCC15 cells in a concentrationand time-dependent manner (P < 0.01). The migration, invasion and proliferation of the SCCl5 cell lines were significantly lower after treatment with luteolin than in the control. The numbers of migrating and invading SCCl5 cells were 340.00 ± 22.94, 52.67 ± 6.94 and 6.57 ± 0.80 versus 85.67 ± 5.18, 39.67 ± 4.63 and 2.67 ± 0.29, respectively (P < 0.01). The enzyme activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 decreased significantly in response to luteolin treatment in a concentration-dependent manner (P < 0.01).

Luteolin inhibited the invasion and migration of SCC15 cells by reducing the activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9.