Scientific Reports (Oct 2022)

Epithelial–mesenchymal transition inhibition by metformin reduces melanoma lung metastasis in a murine model

  • Emerson Soares Veloso,
  • Bárbara Andrade de Carvalho,
  • Felipe Henrique de Souza Silva,
  • Thaís Salviana Ribeiro,
  • Bruna Mendes Lima,
  • Camila Pereira Almeida,
  • Vítor Henrique Soares Romão da Silva,
  • Sara Aparecida Rocha,
  • Marina Rios de Araújo Campos,
  • Helen Lima Del Puerto,
  • Enio Ferreira

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22235-8
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Abstract Melanoma is an aggressive cancer with fast metastatic spread and reduced survival time. One common event during the neoplastic progression is the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), which enhances invasiveness, cell migration, and metastasis. In this study, we investigated the effects of metformin at EMT in melanoma cell lines B16-F10 and A-375, in vitro, and the impact of EMT downregulation on melanoma progression in vivo. The metformin cells treatment reduces the migration potential in vitro and reduced the development of pulmonary metastases and the expressions of N-cadherin, vimentin, ZEB1, and ZEB2 at the metastases site, in vivo. These results indicate that metformin can promote EMT downregulation impairing the metastatic potential of melanoma cells.