Paeoniflorin exhibits antitumor effects in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells through downregulation of NEDD4.

Paeoniflorin (PF), which is isolated from the paeony root, possesses tumor suppressive function in a variety of malignancies. However, it is unknown whether PF possesses anticancer activity in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and which molecular mechanism is involved in PF-triggered antitumor function. In the current study, we measured cell proliferation, apoptotic death, cell cycle, cell motility in NPC cells after PF exposure. We found that PF suppressed cell proliferation, stimulated apoptosis, triggered cell cycle arrest, and impeded cell migratory and invasive activity in NPC cells. Mechanistically, PF inhibited the expression of neural precursor cell expressed developmentally downregulated protein 4 (NEDD4). We further validated that PF induced antitumor activity via downregulation of NEDD4 in NPC. Our data suggest that PF might act as a potential inhibitor of NEDD4 for treating NPC.