Green tea seed extract inhibits cell migration by suppressing the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process in breast cancer cells

Recently, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been implicated in human pathology, including fibrosis and cancer metastasis. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effects of green tea seed (GTS) on the EMT process and migration using the human breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB231. Pretreatment with GTS significantly inhibited migration of breast cancer cells, as measured by monolayer scratch assay. GTS treatment clearly decreased vimentin (a mesenchymal marker) and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) mRNA expression, while E-cadherin (an epithelial marker) expression was significantly increased. Furthermore, GTS also reduced matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and -9. Taken together, our results demonstrated that GTS inhibits migration of breast cancer cells by suppressing the EMT process via reduction of MMP activities and FAK mRNA expression. Based on these findings, we speculate that GTS might be a potential agent for inhibition of breast cancer cell migration.