1. Academic Validation
  2. L-theanine suppresses the metastasis of prostate cancer by downregulating MMP9 and Snail

L-theanine suppresses the metastasis of prostate cancer by downregulating MMP9 and Snail

  • J Nutr Biochem. 2021 Mar;89:108556. doi: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2020.108556.
Xirui Fan 1 Jinyi Zhou 1 Xiaowen Bi 1 Juanjuan Liang 1 Shuai Lu 1 Xintong Yan 1 Lan Luo 2 Zhimin Yin 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory for Molecular and Medical Biotechnology, College of Life Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
  • 2 State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: lanluo@nju.edu.cn.
  • 3 Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory for Molecular and Medical Biotechnology, College of Life Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: yinzhimin@njnu.edu.cn.
Abstract

Prostate Cancer (PCa) is a very prevalent male-specific malignancy; most PCa patients eventually die as a result of metastasis. L-theanine (C7H14N2O3), a nonprotein amino acid derivative from green tea leaves, has been demonstrated to act as an anticarcinogen through proapoptotic and antiproliferative effects. However, the antimetastatic effect of L-theanine in tumor cells and its underlying mechanism are still unclear. Here, we found that L-theanine could suppress invasion, migration, and increase cell-cell adhesion of prostate Cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. We also found that L-theanine could inhibit the epithelial-mesenchymal transition process in PCa. Our study revealed that L-theanine could downregulate MMP9, N-Cadherin, Vimentin, Snail, and upregulate E-cadherin. Furthermore, L-theanine suppressed the transcription of MMP9 and Snail by significantly inhibiting the ERK/NF-κB signaling pathway and the binding activity of p65 to the promoter regions of MMP9 and Snail. All of these findings suggest that L-theanine has therapeutic potential for metastatic PCa and may be considered a promising candidate for antimetastatic therapy of prostate Cancer.

Keywords

L-theanine; MMP9; Snail; metastasis; prostate cancer.

Figures
Products