Disulfiram inhibits TGF-β-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition and stem-like features in breast cancer via ERK/NF-κB/Snail pathway

Disulfiram (DSF), an anti-alcoholism drug, has been reported as an inhibitor of NF-kappa B. NF-kappa B is involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and self-renewal of breast cancer stem cells (CSCs). In this study, we treated MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells with TGF-beta to induce EMT and cancer stem-like features and studied whether DSF can reverse this process. We found that DSF inhibited TGF-beta induced EMT in breast cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. Also, DSF inhibited EMT-associated stem-like features, migration and invasion of tumor cells as well as tumor growth in xenograft model. The activation of NF-kappa B was linked with EMT and stem-like cells. We conclude that DSF can suppress NF-kappa B activity and downregulate ERK/NF-kappa B/Snail pathway, leading to reverse EMT and stem-like features. Our data suggest that DSF inhibits EMT and stem-like properties in breast cancer cells associated with inhibition of the ERK/NF-kappa B/Snail pathway.