BPB Reports

Paper Details

BPB Reports
Vol. 6 No. 3 p.103-107 2023
Report
Cell Morphology-Based Screening Identified Vitetrifolin D from Vitex Rotundifolia as an Inhibitor of Phorbol Ester–Induced Downregulation of E-Cadherin in HHUA Endometrial Cells
  • Yusuke Hanaki (Department of Applied Biological Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University / hanaki.yusuke@kagawa-u.ac.jp)
Yusuke Hanaki 1) , Nichika Iwase 1) , Yasunori Sugiyama 1) , Sena Miyoshi 2) , Ryo C. Yanagita 1)
1) Department of Applied Biological Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University , 2) Division of Applied Biological and Rare Sugar Sciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kagawa University
Received: April 28, 2023;   Accepted: June 02, 2023;   Released: June 13, 2023
Keywords: vitetrifolin, Vitex rotundifolia, endometrial cells, E-cadherin
Abstracts

The epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) of endometrial cells contributes to the development of endometrial cancer, endometriosis, and adenomyosis. We have recently reported that 12-O-Tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA), a protein kinase C activator, induces EMT in HHUA endometrial cells cultured on collagen type I gels. HHUA cells showed an obvious morphological change from spheroids to scattered spindle cells during the TPA-induced EMT. In this study, we searched for inhibitors of the TPA-induced morphological change, and isolated vitetrifolin D from Vitex rotundifolia leaves. Vitetrifolin D suppressed the TPA-induced downregulation of E-cadherin, a major component of the epithelial adherens junction. Since vitetrifolin D showed a modest cytotoxicity at the concentration required to inhibit E-cadherin downregulation, it would not be suitable as a drug to treat endometrial disorders. However, our cell morphology-based screening could contribute to the discovery of new compounds that inhibit the loss of epithelial cell junctions.