Royal Jelly Decreases MMP-9 Expression and Induces Apoptosis in Human 5637 Bladder Cancer Cells

Royal jelly (RJ) as a traditional medicinal agent has a variety of pharmacological benefits. In the present study, the effects of the royal jelly were investigated on the urinary bladder cancer cell line 5637 (HTB-9). MTT assay was performed to determine the percent of cell viability at different concentrations of the royal jelly. Moreover, in vitro wound-healing assay was applied to investigate the effects of RJ on cell migration. The activities and gene expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase 2 and 9 were assessed by zymography and Real time PCR, respectively. It was confirmed that royal jelly (RJ) at the concentration of 0.7 mg/ml exerted a significant inhibitory effect on HTB 5637 cells and reduced cell viability to 72% in comparison to the control cultures (P-value<0.009) during the first 72h of treatment. Furthermore, royal jelly Significantly decreased the bladder cancerous cell migration capacity, and induced a significant decrease in the transcriptional level of the MMP9 after 72h (50% of the controls; P-value<0.049). However, R.J.S did not impose any effect on the expression level and activity of matrix metalloproteinase 2. The results indicated the potential of RJ as a promising natural anti-proliferative and anti-metastatic drug.