OBJECTIVETo study the inhibitory effects of matrine, in different concentrations, on invasion and metastasis of human acute lymphocytic leukemia cell line Jurkat.

METHODSIn vitro cultured Jurkat cells were treated by matrine in concentration of 0 g/L, 0.1 g/L, 0.15 g/L and 0.2 g/L, respectively. Then cell adhesion assay, cell migration assay and matrigel invasion assay were used respectively to observe the effects of matrine on adhesion, migration and invasive capacity of Jurkat cells. Meantime, RT-PCR was performed to detect the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 mRNA expression levels. Comparison of measurement data among groups was analyzed by variance analysis.

RESULTSAs compared with the control group, the adhesion of Jurkat to fibronectin (FN) was significantly inhibited by 0.15 g/L and 0.2 g/L of matrine (P < 0.05); the cell migration and invasive capacity were significantly lowered by 0.1 g/L, 0.15 g/L and 0.2 g/L matrine (P < 0.01). High mRNA expression of MMP-9 presented but that of MMP-2 was expressed insignificantly in Jurkat cells, matrine at 0.1 g/L, 0.15 g/L and 0.2 g/L showed obvious effect in down-regulating MMP-9 mRNA expression (P < 0.01). Besides, MMP-9 mRNA expression was found to be positively correlated with the invasive capacity of Jurkat cells (r = 0.940, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSMatrine is a good drug for antagonizing the invasion and metastasis of leukemia cells, it may roundly inhibit the adhesion, migration and invasive capacity of Jurkat cells, the mechanism might be related with the down-regulation of MMP-9 mRNA expression.