Low-Dose Quercetin Dephosphorylates AKT and Suppresses Proteins Related to Migration in Human Metastatic Uveal Melanoma Cells

<b>Background:</b> Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common intraocular cancer of the eye, with high metastatic potential in adults. In 50% of patients, UM spreads to other tissues, causing a fatal outcome. Flavonoids are bioactive phenolic compounds found in fruits and plants, thus common...

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Main Authors: Petra Fodor, József Király, Zsuzsanna Szabó, Katalin Goda, Barbara Zsebik, Gábor Halmos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Life
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/15/6/979
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author Petra Fodor
József Király
Zsuzsanna Szabó
Katalin Goda
Barbara Zsebik
Gábor Halmos
author_facet Petra Fodor
József Király
Zsuzsanna Szabó
Katalin Goda
Barbara Zsebik
Gábor Halmos
author_sort Petra Fodor
collection DOAJ
description <b>Background:</b> Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common intraocular cancer of the eye, with high metastatic potential in adults. In 50% of patients, UM spreads to other tissues, causing a fatal outcome. Flavonoids are bioactive phenolic compounds found in fruits and plants, thus commonly present in the natural diet. Quercetin is the most remarkable agent among flavonols proved to have an anticancer effect. Thus, we aimed to investigate the effect of quercetin on a metastatic UM cell line MM28. <b>Methods:</b> MM28 cells were treated with increasing concentrations of quercetin (0.1–10 µM). The changes of proliferation and migration markers were studied both in gene and protein expression level by qPCR, Western blotting, and Proteome Profiler Human XL Oncology Array. <b>Results:</b> Quercetin had only a slight anti-proliferative effect on MM28 cells. However, 1 µM of quercetin significantly elevated the mRNA expression of the Maspin gene and downregulated MMP2 gene expression. In addition, the protein expression levels of pAKT, NF-κB, and MMP8 were significantly decreased by the treatment. <b>Conclusions:</b> Our findings indicate that low-dose (1 µM) quercetin treatment is able to suppress the expression of certain migration markers, and therefore, it might be a useful adjuvant compound to reduce metastasis formation of UM.
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spelling doaj-art-7c0b80e2cfce43a092b168573854f2d02025-08-20T03:27:25ZengMDPI AGLife2075-17292025-06-0115697910.3390/life15060979Low-Dose Quercetin Dephosphorylates AKT and Suppresses Proteins Related to Migration in Human Metastatic Uveal Melanoma CellsPetra Fodor0József Király1Zsuzsanna Szabó2Katalin Goda3Barbara Zsebik4Gábor Halmos5Department of Biopharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Debrecen, 4002 Debrecen, HungaryDepartment of Biopharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Debrecen, 4002 Debrecen, HungaryDepartment of Biopharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Debrecen, 4002 Debrecen, HungaryDepartment of Biophysics and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, HungaryDepartment of Biopharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Debrecen, 4002 Debrecen, HungaryDepartment of Biopharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Debrecen, 4002 Debrecen, Hungary<b>Background:</b> Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common intraocular cancer of the eye, with high metastatic potential in adults. In 50% of patients, UM spreads to other tissues, causing a fatal outcome. Flavonoids are bioactive phenolic compounds found in fruits and plants, thus commonly present in the natural diet. Quercetin is the most remarkable agent among flavonols proved to have an anticancer effect. Thus, we aimed to investigate the effect of quercetin on a metastatic UM cell line MM28. <b>Methods:</b> MM28 cells were treated with increasing concentrations of quercetin (0.1–10 µM). The changes of proliferation and migration markers were studied both in gene and protein expression level by qPCR, Western blotting, and Proteome Profiler Human XL Oncology Array. <b>Results:</b> Quercetin had only a slight anti-proliferative effect on MM28 cells. However, 1 µM of quercetin significantly elevated the mRNA expression of the Maspin gene and downregulated MMP2 gene expression. In addition, the protein expression levels of pAKT, NF-κB, and MMP8 were significantly decreased by the treatment. <b>Conclusions:</b> Our findings indicate that low-dose (1 µM) quercetin treatment is able to suppress the expression of certain migration markers, and therefore, it might be a useful adjuvant compound to reduce metastasis formation of UM.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/15/6/979uveal melanomaquercetinmetastasismigration markersepithelial–mesenchymal transition
spellingShingle Petra Fodor
József Király
Zsuzsanna Szabó
Katalin Goda
Barbara Zsebik
Gábor Halmos
Low-Dose Quercetin Dephosphorylates AKT and Suppresses Proteins Related to Migration in Human Metastatic Uveal Melanoma Cells
Life
uveal melanoma
quercetin
metastasis
migration markers
epithelial–mesenchymal transition
title Low-Dose Quercetin Dephosphorylates AKT and Suppresses Proteins Related to Migration in Human Metastatic Uveal Melanoma Cells
title_full Low-Dose Quercetin Dephosphorylates AKT and Suppresses Proteins Related to Migration in Human Metastatic Uveal Melanoma Cells
title_fullStr Low-Dose Quercetin Dephosphorylates AKT and Suppresses Proteins Related to Migration in Human Metastatic Uveal Melanoma Cells
title_full_unstemmed Low-Dose Quercetin Dephosphorylates AKT and Suppresses Proteins Related to Migration in Human Metastatic Uveal Melanoma Cells
title_short Low-Dose Quercetin Dephosphorylates AKT and Suppresses Proteins Related to Migration in Human Metastatic Uveal Melanoma Cells
title_sort low dose quercetin dephosphorylates akt and suppresses proteins related to migration in human metastatic uveal melanoma cells
topic uveal melanoma
quercetin
metastasis
migration markers
epithelial–mesenchymal transition
url https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/15/6/979
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