Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects and mechanisms of Wnt pathway inhibitor IWR-1-endo on the biological behaviors of human hepatocarcinoma cell Huh7. Methods Human hepatocellular carcinoma cell Huh7 was cultured in vitro, and Huh7 cells were treated with IWR-1-endo at different concentrations (0, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 μmol/L). Scratch test was used to detect changes in cell migration ability at diffe-rent drug concentrations, plate cloning was used to detect changes in cell proliferation, Western blotting was used to detect changes in the expression of Wnt pathway related protein β-catenin, and immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the expression of β-catenin in cytoplasm and nucleus. Results The results of the scratch test showed that the 24 h scratch healing rates of Huh7 cells treated with 0, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 μmol/L IWR-1-endo were (20.55±0.05)%, (12.10±0.08)%, (9.36±0.10)%, (3.62±0.09)%, (0.62±0.04)% and (0.23±0.02)%, respectively, and there was a statistically significant difference (F=230.87, P<0.001). Further pair comparison showed that there were statistically significant differences in 24 h scratch healing rates among different concentrations (all P<0.001). The 48 h scratch healing rates were (34.77±0.08)%, (17.69±0.05)%, (11.60±0.04)%, (5.68±0.07)%, (2.66±0.04)% and (1.75±0.02)%, respectively, and there was a statistically significant difference (F=589.68, P<0.001). Further pair comparison showed that there were statistically significant differences in 48 h scratch healing rates among different concentrations (all P<0.001). After treatment with IWR-1-endo at the concentration of 0, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 μmol/L, the clone formation rates of Huh7 cells were (61.67±0.21)%, (57.33±0.11)%, (50.00±0.25)%, (36.67±0.28)%, (23.33±0.12)% and (15.00±0.08)%, respectively, and there was a statistically significant difference (F=403.56, P<0.001). Further pair comparison showed that there were statistically significant differences in clone formation rates among different concentrations (all P<0.001). After treatment with 0, 20, 40, 80, and 160 μmol/L IWR-1-endo for 24 h, the relative expression levels of β-catenin in Huh7 cells were 0.30±0.08, 0.25±0.07, 0.22±0.05, 0.15±0.01 and 0.06±0.02, respectively, and there was a statistically significant difference (F=247.00, P<0.001). Compared with 0 μmol/L, the relative expression levels of β-catenin treated with 80 and 160 μmol/L had statistical significance (P=0.014; P=0.008). Compared with 0 mol/L, immunofluorescence showed that the expressions of β-catenin in cytoplasm and nucleus were reduced after 80 μmol/L IWR-1-endo treatment. Conclusion Wnt pathway inhibitor IWR-1-endo can inhibit the migration and proliferation of hepatocarcinoma cells Huh7 by inhibiting the activity of Wnt pathway. The above inhibitory effects are dose-dependent.

Key words: Liver neoplasms, Wnt pathway, IWR-1-endo, Cell proliferation, Cell movement