Dioscin is a natural steroidal saponin that can be isolated from Chinese medicine, such as Dioscoreae rhizoma. It has wild range of pharmacological activities such as hepatoprotection, a lipid-lowering effect, and anti-inflammation. Recently, mounting studies reported the anticancer effect of dioscin on a variety of tumor cells. However, the potential effect of dioscin on the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of HepG2 cells is unclear. In the present study, dioscin was identified to inhibit transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and induced invasive and migratory behavior of HepG2 cells. Consistently, the expression of the epithelial marker E-cadherin and gap junction proteins increased following dioscin treatment, while mesenchymal markers decreased, including N-cadherin, Vimentin, Snail, and Slug. Furthermore, we discovered that TGF-β1 induces phosphorylation of JNK, p38, and Erk, whereas the activation of these kinases was reversed by dioscin treatment in a dose-dependent manner. With the addition of Asiatic acid, a p38 activator, the inhibitory effect of dioscin on EMT was reversed. Taken together, these data indicated that dioscin inhibits EMT in HepG2 cells, which is mediated in large part by inhibition of the p38-MAPK signaling.
