Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most prevalent types of malignancies. Betulinic acid (BA) is a natural pentacyclic triterpene with a lupine structure. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no research study on the anti‐tumour and anti‐metastasis effect of BA on GC. In this study, we assessed the anti‐cancer effect of BA on human GC cells in vitro and in vivo. We first investigated the cytotoxicity and anti‐proliferation effect of BA on GC cells of SNU‐16 and NCI‐N87. The results indicated that BA had significant cytotoxic and inhibitory effects on GC cells in a dose‐ and time‐dependent manner. To further study the cytotoxic action of BA on GC cells, we assessed the apoptotic induction effect of BA on SNU‐16 cells and found that BA distinctly induced apoptosis in SNU‐16 cells. In addition, BA inhibited the migratory and invasive abilities of SNU‐16 cells. Western‐blot analysis revealed that BA suppressed the migration and invasion of GC cells by impairing epithelial‐mesenchymal transition progression. Furthermore, in vivo experiments showed that BA could delay tumour growth and inhibit pulmonary metastasis, which is consistent with the results of in vitro studies. Overall, we evaluated the anti‐cancer effect of BA on human GC cells in vivo and in vitro, and the present study provides new evidence on the use of BA as a potential anti‐cancer drug for GC treatment.

中文翻译：

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桦木酸通过损害EMT进展来触发细胞凋亡并抑制胃癌细胞的迁移和侵袭。

胃癌（GC）是最普遍的恶性肿瘤之一。桦木酸（BA）是具有羽扇豆结构的天然五环三萜。然而，据我们所知，目前还没有关于BA对GC的抗肿瘤和抗转移作用的研究。在这项研究中，我们评估了BA在体外和体内对人GC细胞的抗癌作用。我们首先研究了BA对SNU-16和NCI-N87的GC细胞的细胞毒性和抗增殖作用。结果表明，BA对GC细胞具有显着的细胞毒性和抑制作用，呈剂量和时间依赖性。为了进一步研究BA对GC细胞的细胞毒性作用，我们评估了BA对SNU-16细胞的凋亡诱导作用，发现BA明显诱导SNU-16细胞凋亡。此外，BA抑制SNU-16细胞的迁移和侵袭能力。Western印迹分析表明，BA通过损害上皮-间质转化进程来抑制GC细胞的迁移和侵袭。此外，体内实验表明BA可以延迟肿瘤生长并抑制肺转移，这与体外研究的结果一致。总体而言，我们评估了BA在体内和体外对人GC细胞的抗癌作用，本研究为将BA用作GC治疗的潜在抗癌药物提供了新的证据。这与体外研究的结果一致。总体而言，我们评估了BA在体内和体外对人GC细胞的抗癌作用，本研究为将BA用作GC治疗的潜在抗癌药物提供了新的证据。这与体外研究的结果一致。总体而言，我们评估了BA在体内和体外对人GC细胞的抗癌作用，本研究为将BA用作GC治疗的潜在抗癌药物提供了新的证据。