The study aims to investigate the effect of microRNA-497 (miR-497) expression and
bufalin treatment in regulating
colorectal cancer invasion and
metastasis. The expression of miR-497 in
colorectal cancer cells with prior treatment with
bufalin was determined using real-time quantitative PCR. The nude mouse abdominal aortic ring assay and the human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) migration assays were used to measure the angiogenic effect of
bufalin. The effect of both
bufalin treatment and miR-497 overexpression on
colorectal cancer metastasis was measured using an animal
tumor model together with in vivo imaging. These results suggested: (1) In the HCT116 cells and HUVECs, proliferation was inhibited in a time-dependent and/or concentration-dependent manner following the administration of
bufalin; (2)
Bufalin inhibited cell migration in a concentration-dependent manner by cell motility assays; (3) In the aortic ring assay, administration
bufalin to the aortic ring significantly promoted micro-angiogenesis of nude mouse abdominal aorta in a concentration-dependent and time-dependent manner; (4) miR-497 was upregulated in human
colorectal cancer HCT116 cells treated with different concentrations of
bufalin in a concentration-dependent manner; and (5) Combined application of
bufalin and miR-497 significantly reduced metastatic lesions and reduced
weight loss compared with
bufalin alone and control groups in vivo. This study revealed that
bufalin inhibited angiogenesis and regulated miR-497 expression and that
bufalin and miR-497 acted in synergy to inhibit
colorectal cancer metastasis, resulting in improved quality of life in a nude mouse model.