Modulating cell motility of cervix and breast cancer cell lines

Lithium is a drug used for the treatment of bipolar mood disorder for more than 60 years. The effect of this drug on cancer progression is under investigation. The most hazardous property of cancer is dispersion of primary tumor within body or metastasis. Decreasing tumor invasiveness is an advantageous approach in reducing cancer-related deaths. It was found serendipitously that lithium chloride (LiCl) could significantly decrease invasiveness of glioma cells. The question arose whether lithium can influence invasiveness of other cancers. Hence, Hela and T47D cell lines obtained from cervix and breast tissues, respectively were used to find an answer to the mentioned question. MTT assay was utilized to find the suitable concentration and treatment time for LiCl treatment. Cells were treated with LiCl in determined condition. The same concentration of sodium chloride (NaCl) was applied as the negative control. The amount of invasiveness of LiCl- and NaCl-treated cells was determined by wound healing assay. Microscope images from three independent experiments were analyzed by ImageJ software. Our results indicated that treatment with lithium significantly decreased the amount of wound healing and invasiveness in Hela and T47D cell lines in concentrations that did not affect cell proliferation. This finding potentiates use of lithium drug for suppression of tumor invasiveness albeit after thorough in vitro and in vivo investigation.