Chemotherapy has been demonstrating more important roles in the treatment of carcinoma, but drug resistance and side effects restrict its usage in clinic, so developing new type of drug with low side effects and low-drug resistance has become a hot researching spot. The present study aimed to investigate the anticancer effects of 5-hydroxy-4'-nitro-7-propionyloxy-genistein (HNPG) and elucidate its underlying molecular mechanism. The inhibitory effects of cell viability of HNPG were detected using MTT assay, flat plate clone formation method and Transwell assay. The distribution of cell cycle was analyzed using FCM method. The morphological alteration, root-mean-squared roughness (Rq), average roughness (Ra), Young's modulus and adhesive force were measured by AFM. qRT-PCR and western blotting analysis were used to explore the possible molecular mechanism. It was found that HNPG presented with dramatic activity against JEC cells in vitro, inhibited the proliferation and colony formation, attenuated invasion and migration ability, arrested cell cycle in G1 phase in dose-dependent manner. Simultaneously, cell body shrunk and pseudopod structure retracted, Rq and Ra reduced, Young's modulus and adhesive force increased, accompanied by β-catenin, C-myc, Cyclin D1, MMP-2, MMP-7 and MMP-9 down-regulated. In summary, HNPG may be a novel candidate for chemotherapeutic drug.

5-hydroxy-4'-nitro-7-propionyloxy-genistein inhibited invasion and metastasis via inactivating wnt/β-catenin signal pathway in human endometrial carcinoma JEC cells