Abstract: The influences of luteolin on the apoptosis,migration and invasion of human choroidal malignant melanoma cells by regulating Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway have been investigated.The cell viability of human choroidal malignant melanoma cells MuM-2C treated with luteolin at 0,5,10,15,20,25 μmol/L concentrations for 24 h was determined by CCK-8 method  to screen the appropriate concentration of drug action.The MuM-2C cells cultured in vitro were randomly grouped into three groups:control group,luteolin group and luteolin + lithium chloride group.After treatment with 15 μmol/L luteolin and 10 μmol/L lithium chloride,flow cytometry and Hoechst 33258 staining were performed to detect the apoptosis of MuM-2C cells;scratch test and Transwell test were performed to detect the migration and invasion of MuM-2C cells in each group;immunofluorescence was applied to detect the expression of apoptotic proteins BAX and BCL-2 in MuM-2C cells in each group;Western blotting was performed to detect the expression of EMT marker proteins (E-cadherin,N-cadherin,Vimentin) and Wnt/β-catenin signaling-related proteins (Wnt1,β-catenin) in MuM-2C cells in each group.The results showed that different doses of luteolin could inhibit the growth of MuM-2C cells,and the effect was enhanced with increasing doses within a certain range.Compared with the control group,the nuclei in the luteolin group were pyknotic,different in size,uneven in coloration,and showed bright blue fluorescence and obvious pathological phenomena of apoptosis,with the apoptosis rate,the ratio of BAX/BCL-2 and the expression of E-cadherin protein obviously increasing (P＜0.05) and the cell migration rate and invasion number,and the expression of N-cadherin,Vimentin,Wnt1 and β-catenin proteins in cells obviously decreasing (P＜0.05).Compared with the luteolin group,the pathological phenomenon of nuclear apoptosis in the luteolin + lithium chloride group was obviously reduced,with the apoptosis rate,the ratio of BAX/BCL-2 and the expression of E-cadherin protein obviously decreasing (P＜0.05) and the cell migration rate and invasion number,and the expression of N-cadherin,Vimentin,Wnt1 and β-catenin proteins in cells obviously increasing (P＜0.05).It can be concluded that luteolin can reduce the viability of MuM-2C cells,promote their apoptosis,and inhibit their migration and invasion by inhibiting the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway transduction.

Key words: luteolin, Wnt/β-catenin, human choroidal malignant melanoma cells, apoptosis, migration, invasion