Matrine (MAT), a commonly employed Chinese botanical, has a long-standing history of application in the treatment of inflammation and cancer. Nevertheless, the precise molecular mechanism underlying MAT's impact on thymoma remains unresolved. Consequently, the objective of this investigation was to assess the influence of MAT on thymomas and ascertain the potential mechanisms through which it modulates the Wnt3a/β-catenin pathway. Thy0517 cells were treated with different doses of MAT to construct a thymoma cell therapy model in vitro, and given Wnt3a/β-catenin pathway agonist Laduviglusib for follow-up experiments. The effect of different doses of MAT on the proliferation, colony formation ability, apoptosis, migration, invasion, and stemness of Thy0517 cells was determined by MTT, colony formation assay, flow cytometry, wound healing assay, Transwell assay, and spheroid formation assay, respectively. Genes and proteins were evaluated by RT-qPCR and/or Western blot. High-dose MAT significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, invasion, and stemness of Thy0517 cells, which also proved the anti-tumor effect of MAT. The suppressive impact of MAT on cellular function could potentially be augmented through the blockade of the Wnt3a/β-catenin pathway, thereby providing additional evidence for the pivotal role of MAT as a signaling pathway in governing the migratory and invasive capabilities of thymoma cells. We found that MAT has anti-tumor effects, inhibiting the proliferation, migration, invasion, and stemness of thymoma cells by regulating the Wnt3a/β-catenin pathway.
Chen et al. (Sun,) studied this question.