Abstract
(E)-7-Phenyl-2-hepten-4,6-diyn-1-ol (1) and (Z)-7-Phenyl-2-hepten-4,6-diyn-1-ol (2) are isomeric natural polyacetylenes isolated from the Chinese medicinal plant Bidens pilosa L. This study first revealed the excellent anti-metastasis potential of these two polyacetylenes on human gastric cancer HGC-27 cells and the distinctive molecular mechanisms underlying their activities. Polyacetylenes 1 and 2 significantly inhibited the migration, invasion, and adhesion of HGC-27 cells at their non-toxic concentrations in a dose-dependent manner. The results of a further mechanism investigation showed that polyacetylene 1 inhibited the expressions of Vimentin, Snail, β-catenin, GSK3β, MST1, YAP, YAP/TAZ, and their phosphorylation, and upregulated the expression of E-cadherin and p-LATS1. In addition, the expressions of various downstream metastasis-related proteins, such as MMP2/7/9/14, c-Myc, ICAM-1, VCAM-1, MAPK, p-MAPK, Sox2, Cox2, and Cyr61, were also suppressed in a dose-dependent manner. These findings suggested that polyacetylene 1 exhibited its anti-metastasis activities on HGC-27 cells through the reversal of the EMT process and the suppression of the Wnt/β-catenin and Hippo/YAP signaling pathways.