| Title |
Berberine Inhibits HEp-2 Cell Invasion Induced by Chlamydophila pneumoniae Infection |
| Author |
Li Jun Zhang1, Li Jun Zhang1*, Wei Quan1, Bei Bei Wang1, Bing Ling Shen1, Teng Teng Zhang1, and Yi Kang2 |
| Address |
1Department of Pathophysiology, 2Department of Pharmacology, Basic Medical School of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, P. R. China |
| Bibliography |
Journal of Microbiology, 49(5),834-840, 2011,
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| DOI |
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| Key Words |
berberine, Chlamydia pneumoniae, cell invasion, cell adhesion, cell migration |
| Abstract |
This study investigated the inhibitory effects of berberine on Chlamydophila (Chlamydia) pneumoniae infection-induced HEp-2 cell invasion and explored the possible mechanisms involved in this process. C. pneumoniae infection resulted in a significant increase in HEp-2 cell invasion when compared with the control cells (P<0.01) in a Matrigel invasion assay. This enhanced cell invasion was strongly suppressed by berberine (50 μM) (P<0.01). In a cell adhesion assay, the infection-induced HEp-2 cell adhesion to Matrigel was also significantly inhibited by berberine (P<0.01). C. pneumoniae infection was found to promote HEp-2 cell migration remarkably (P<0.01), which was markedly suppressed by berberine (P<0.01) in the cell migration assays. There were no statistically significant differences in the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) and MMP-9 in the infected cells and berberine did not change the expression of MMP-1 and MMP-9. These data suggest that berberine inhibits C. pneumoniae infection-induced HEp-2 cell invasion through suppressing HEp-2 cell adhesion and migration, but not through changing the expression of MMP-1 and MMP-9. |
