Abstract: Objective  To investigate the effect of basil polysaccharide (BPS) on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFRs) in SKOV3 ovarian cancer cells and its involvement in regulating the invasion of SKOV3 cells. Methods  Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion by SKOV3 cells after BPS treatment was analyzed by ELISA and the regulation of VEGFRs in SKOV3 cells by BPS was assessed by qRT-PCR and flow cytometry. Transwell assay was performed to investigate the effect of different concentrations of BPS on SKOV3 cell invasion. Lentiviral shRNA expression vector infection was utilized to stably knockdown the expression of VEGFR2 in SKOV3 cells and the impact of BPS on VEGFR2-knockdown SKOV3 cells was further analyzed by Transwell assay. Results  Secretion of VEGF from SKOV3 cells was not altered by BPS treatment, and BPS showed no significant effect on VEGFR1 and VEGFR3 expressions in SKOV3 cells. However, VEGFR2 expression in SKOV3 cells was remarkably increased by BPS treatment both in the mRNA level and surface protein level. Transwell assay showed BPS significantly inhibited the invasion of SKOV3 cells in vitro in a concentration-dependent manner. SKOV3 cells infected with specific VEGFR2 shRNA lentiviral vector showed decreased expression of VEGFR2, and the inhibitory effect of BPS on VEGFR2-knockdown SKOV3 cells was lower than that on the negative control cells. Conclusion  BPS significantly inhibited the invasion of SKOV3 cells in vitro, which was partially mediated by the up-regulation of VEGFR2 in SKOV3 cells.

Key words: Basil polysaccharide, Invasion, Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2, Ovarian neoplasm