Erianthridin suppresses non-small-cell lung cancer cell metastasis through inhibition of Akt/mTOR/p70S6K signaling pathway

Cancer metastasis is a major cause of the high mortality rate in lung cancer patients. The cytoskeletal rearrangement and degradation of extracellular matrix are required to facilitate cell migration and invasion and the suppression of these behaviors is an intriguing approach to minimize cancer metastasis. Even though Erianthridin (ETD), a phenolic compound isolated from the Thai orchid Dendrobium formosum exhibits various biological activities, the molecular mechanism of ETD for anti-cancer activity is unclear. In this study, we found that noncytotoxic concentrations of ETD (≤ 50 μM) were able to significantly inhibit cell migration and invasion via disruption of actin stress fibers and lamellipodia formation. The expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 was markedly downregulated in a dose-dependent manner after ETD treatment. Mechanistic studies revealed that protein kinase B (Akt) and its downstream effectors mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and p70 S6 kinase (p70S6K) were strongly attenuated. An in silico study further demonstrated that ETD binds to the protein kinase domain of Akt with both hydrogen bonding and van der Waals interactions. In addition, an in vivo tail vein injection metastasis study demonstrated a significant effect of ETD on the suppression of lung cancer cell metastasis. This study provides preclinical information regarding ETD, which exhibits promising antimetastatic activity against non-small-cell lung cancer through Akt/mTOR/p70S6K-induced actin reorganization and MMPs expression.