Aristolactam I inhibits cell migration and invasion through regulation of Twist1 in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most difficult cancer types to treat. Because three key receptors are absent in these cancer cells, the cells bypass the human immune system and chemotherapy does not work well. Aristolactam I (AL-I) is a natural compound in the plant genus Aristolochia. Previous studies have shown that aristolactam variants exhibit an inhibitory effect on several bioactive cancer developments. However, the regulatory mechanism and biological activity of AL-I in TNBC cell lines have not been identified. In this study, AL-I affected an increase in E-cadherin expression in MDA-MB-231 cancer cells. AL-I increased E-cadherin mRNA expression by down-regulating Twist1 protein expression. The novel anticancer effect of AL-I was confirmed to be inhibition of the development of breast cancer cells through reduced cell mobility.