Abstract: Objective To investigate whether dihydrotanshinone Ⅰ could regulate the biological activities of proliferation, migration and apoptosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell line EC9706 through Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Methods EC9706 cells were cultured in medium containing 0, 10, and 30 μmol/L dihydrotanshinoneⅠ solution, and cell proliferation was examined with a cell counting kit-8, cell migration was checked with scratch test. Western blot was used to detect β-catenin, cyclin D1 and c-myc protein expression in cells. Apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. Results DihydrotanshinoneⅠ effectively inhibited the proliferation and migration of EC9706 cells. DihydrotanshinoneⅠ down-regulated β-catenin, cyclin D1 and c-myc protein expression in cells (P＜0.05). DihydrotanshinoneⅠ promoted apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusions DihydrotanshinoneⅠ can inhibit proliferation and migration of EC9706 cells and promote the cells apoptosis.

Key words: dihydrotanshinoneⅠ, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell line EC9706, Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway