Abstract

The Hedgehog (Hh) pathway effector Gli1 plays an important role in cervical cancer, and GANT61 is an Hh signaling inhibitor. In this study, we aimed to investigate the inhibitory effect of GANT61 on cervical cancer and to study its safety in nude mice. We used in vivo experiments to assess the effect of GANT61 on the growth of cervical cancer HeLa cells, and we measured the WBC, HGB, PLT, ALT, AST and Cre levels in nude mice. Next, we examined the organ and tumor morphology and distant metastasis by HE staining. We used immunohistochemistry to monitor the expression levels of Gli1, FoxM1, Ki-67, cyclinD1, E-cadherin, vimentin, survivin, caspase-3 and CD34+. Western blotting and RT-RCR were used to measure Gli1 expression. GANT61 inhibited the growth and metastasis of HeLa cervical cancer cells upon their transplantation into nude mice, and we preliminarily propose that GANT61 is safe for nude mice. These findings suggest that GANT61 could be used as a Hedgehog inhibitor to inhibit EMT and proliferation and to promote apoptosis via Gli1 downregulation.