Poria cocos inhibits the invasion, migration, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition of gastric cancer cells by inducing ferroptosis in cells

Abstract Objective Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most prevalent malignant tumors of the digestive system. The advanced metastasis of gastric cancer severely limits the conventional approaches for its treatment, while certain traditional Chinese medicinal compounds have been reported to possess promising abilities in inhibiting tumor metastasis. Such as Poria (PA), known as Fu Ling in Chinese, is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicinal herb derived from Poria cocos, a fungus belonging to the polyporaceae family. Methods The proliferation capacity of cells was measured using the MTT assay, while the invasion and migration abilities of cells after treatment with different concentrations of PA were evaluated through wound healing assay and Transwell assay. The differential expression of mRNA was analyzed using qPCR. The in vivo growth of tumors was assessed by subcutaneous tumor formation in mice. Results Both in vivo and in vitro experiments have demonstrated that PA significantly inhibits the proliferation of GC. Moreover, in vitro experiments have revealed that PA not only suppresses the invasion and migration of GC cells but also reverses TNF-β-induced EMT. Further experiments have revealed that PA inhibits cell invasion, migration and EMT by inducing ferroptosis in GC cells. Conclusion In brief, the present study shows that PA inhibits tumor metastasis by inducing ferroptosis in GC cells. Our findings suggest that PA may have therapeutic potential in GC.