Melanoma is the leading cause of death from
skin disease due to its propensity for
metastasis. Studies have shown that
integrin-mediated
focal adhesion kinase (FAK) signal pathway is implicated in cell proliferation, survival and
metastasis of
tumor cells. Our previous results indicated that
diallyl trisulfide (DATS) provided its antimelanoma activity via inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. The aim of this study was to explore DATS mediated antimetastatic effect and the corresponding mechanism in human
melanoma A375 cells. We found that DATS exhibited an inhibitory effect on the abilities of migration and invasion in A375 cells under noncytotoxic concentrations analyzed by wound healing assays and
Matrigel invasion chamber system. DATS attenuated invasion of A375 cells with characteristic of decreased activities and
protein expressions of
matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9. Moreover, DATS exerted an inhibitory effect on cell adhesion of A375 cells, which is in correlation with the change in
integrin signaling pathway. Results of Western blotting showed that DATS decreased the levels of several
integrin subunits, including α4, α5, αv, β1, β3 and β4. Subsequently, DATS induced a strong decrease in total FAK, phosphorylated FAK Tyr-397,-576, -577, and disorganized
F-actin stress fibers, resulting in a nonmigratory phenotype. These results suggest that the antimetastatic potential of DATS for human
melanoma cells might be due to the disruption of
integrin/FAK signaling pathway.