Wogonin inhibits the growth of HT144 melanoma via regulating hedgehog signaling-mediated inflammation and glycolysis

Hedgehog (Hh) signaling has been proved to be closely associated with the occurrence of melanoma. Wogonin is one of the active components of flavonoids that extracts from Scutellariae radix. Previous studies showed that wogonin could inhibit the invasion and migration of B16F10 cells, and suppress the synthesis of melanin in A375 melanoma cells. However, the regulatory effects of Hh signaling in wogonin against melanoma and its potential mechanisms remain largely unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of wogonin on the growth of HT144 melanoma, and to elucidate the role of Hh signaling in wogonin-induced antitumor effects by focusing on inflammation and glycolysis regulation. Wogonin inhibited the proliferation, colony formation and tumor growth of HT144 melanoma cells. Wogonin showed strong anti-inflammatory effect in HT144 melanoma, as shown by the decreased levels of pro-inflammatory factors, the increased level of anti-inflammatory factor and the decreased expression of inflammatory cytokines. Wogonin decreased the glucose consumption and the production of lactic acid and ATP, and decreased the activities of hexokinase (HK), phosphofructokinase(PFK) and pyruvate kinase (PK), and further inhibited the expression of monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT-1), MCT-4 and glucosecotransporter-1 (GLUT1), showing potent anti-glycolysis effect against HT144 melanoma. Wogonin inhibited the patched and Smo expression while increased Hhip expression in HT144 cells, suggesting that wogonin blocked the Hh signaling in HT144 cells. The Hh signaling inhibitor cyclopamine, like wogonin, inhibited the colony formation of HT144 cells, however, the inhibitory effect of wogonin on colony formation of HT144 cells was abrogated by the Hh signaling agonist SAG. In addition, SAG abrogated the inhibitory effect of wogonin on the secretion of inflammatory factors and the expression of inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, SAG abrogated the inhibitory effect of wogonin on several key molecules controlling glycolysis. Overall, these findings suggested that the anti-tumor effect of wogonin can be attributed to the inhibition of Hh signaling-mediated regulation of inflammation and glycolysis in HT144 melanoma.