Background:

3,3'-Diindolylmethane is an anticancer agent [1].

3,3'-Diindolylmethane (DIM) is a dimer of indole-3-carbinol generated in low pH environment. It inhibited cell growth with IC50 values of 17, 24 and 30 μM in MCF-7, T47D and Saos2 cell lines, respectively. DIM induced apoptosis in these cells without affecting the p53 pathway. In human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell line (5-8F NPC), treatment of DIM decreased the ability of cell migration and invasion dose-dependently. In rats, transplanted with NPC cells, DIM administration resulted in suppressing lymph node metastasis. Besides that, DIM was found to induce ERα target gene expression and the concomitant cell proliferation at low concentration (10μM) in the absence of E2 [1, 2 and 3].

参考文献:
1. Ge X, Yannai S, Rennert G, et al. 3, 3′-Diindolylmethane induces apoptosis in human cancer cells. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 1996, 228(1): 153-158.
2. Wu T, Chen C, Li F, et al. 3, 3' Diindolylmethane inhibits the invasion and metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo by regulation of epithelial mesenchymal transition. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, 2014, 7(6): 1635-1638.
3. Marques M, Laflamme L, Benassou I, et al. Low levels of 3, 3 [prime]-diindolylmethane activate estrogen receptor alpha and induce proliferation of breast cancer cells in the absence of estradiol. BMC cancer, 2014, 14(1): 524.