Lycium barbarumis a famous plant in the traditional Chinese medicine. The plant is known to have health-promoting bioactive components. The properties ofLycium barbarumberries cultivated in Umbria (Italy) and their effect on human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) have been investigated in this work. The obtained results demonstrated that theLycium barbarumberries from Umbria region display high antioxidant properties evaluated by total phenolic content and ORAC method, on hydrophilic and lipophilic fractions. Moreover, on HepG2 cell lineLycium barbarumberries extract did not change cell viability analyzed by MTT and Trypan blue exclusion assay and did not induce genotoxic effect analyzed by comet assay. Furthermore, it was demonstrated, for the first time, that the berries extract showed a protective effect on DNA damage, expressed as antigenotoxic activityin vitro. Finally,Lycium barbarumberries extract was able to modulate the expression of genes involved in oxidative stress, proliferation, apoptosis, and cancer. In particular, downexpression of genes involved in tumor migration and invasion (CCL5), in increased risk of metastasis and antiapoptotic signal (DUSP1), and in carcinogenesis (GPx-3 and PTGS1), together with overexpression of tumor suppressor gene (MT3), suggested that UmbrianLycium barbarumberries could play a protective role against hepatocellular carcinoma.
HMGA2 induces epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells
