Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of lycorine hydrochloride (LH) on the proliferation, migration and invasion of human gastric cancer cell line MGC-803 and its possible mechanism. Methods Cell proliferation ability was detected by MTT assay and colony formation assay. Distribution of cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry. The migration ability of cells was detected by wound healing assay. Transwell assay was used to detect the invasion ability of cells. RT-qPCR was used to detect the effects of LH on gene expression of cell migration and invasion. Results The inhibitory rate of LH on MGC-803 cells was concentration and time dependent (P＜0.05, P＜0.01), and the IC₅₀ value at 48 h was 3.76 μmol/L. The colony formation of MGC-803 cells was significantly inhibited by LH, and the colony formation was completely inhibited when the concentration reached 20 μmol/L (P＜0.01). Cell cycle was arrested in S phase after LH treatment (P＜0.01). With the increase of LH concentration, cell migration and invasion were significantly inhibited (P＜0.01), the expression level of miR-203 gene was up-regulated, while the expression levels of Slug, MMP2 and MMP9 were down-regulated in a concentration-dependent manner (P＜0.05, P＜0.01). Conclusions LH significantly inhibited the proliferation of MGC-803 cells, induced cell cycle arresting in the S phase, and inhibited cell migration and invasion. The expression level of miR-203 gene was up-regulated.

Key words: lycorine hydrochloride, gastric cancer, migration, miR-203, Slug