Isoxazolyl steroid blocks the Shh signaling pathway and the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in cervical carcinoma cell lines

Cervical cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death among women worldwide. Matrix metalloproteinases MMP-2 and MMP-9 play a leading role in the processes of invasion and metastasis in cervical cancer. Research on the development of MMP inhibitors not yielded the expected results due to their serious side effects. Study of signaling pathways involved in regulation of MMPs expression is of great importance for search of new classes of therapeutic drugs. Aberrant activation of the Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway is associated with increased MMPs in many types of human cancer. This study investigated the inhibitory action of 17β-((3-butylisoxazol-5-yl)methyl)-androst-5-en-3β-ol on the Shh signaling pathway key genes (Ptch, Smo, Gli) expression and MMP-2, MMP-9 genes expression in human cervical carcinoma cell lines (SiHa and CaSki) and keratinocytes (HaCaT). Cyclopamine was used for comparative analysis. Gene expression analysis was performed using real-time PCR; the effects on survival and cell cycle were studied using the MTT test and flow cytometry method. 17β-((3-butylisoxazol-5-yl)methyl)-androst-5-en-3β-ol had higher cytotoxicity and more effectively blocked the Shh signaling pathway genes and MMP-2 and MMP-9 genes compared to cyclopamine in all cell lines. The results obtained demonstrate potential of 17β-((3-butylisoxazol-5-yl)methyl)-androst-5-en-3β-ol as the anticancer drug that simultaneously block the Shh signaling pathway and MMP expression. We are confident that the search for substances capable of simultaneously affecting several key components involved in tumor progression is of great importance for the creation of next-generation therapeutic agents.