Many natural products have been shown to have inhibitory effects on the metastatic process of various cancers including breast cancer. An active triterpenoid saponin D Rhamnose beta-hederin (DR beta-H) from Clematis ganpiniana, has been known induce the apoptosis of breast cancer cells, but the effect of DR beta-H on the metastasis of breast cancer cells is largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that a non-cytotoxic concentration of DR beta-H markedly suppressed wound healing migration, migration through the chamber and invasion through the matrigel. In addition, DR beta-H regulated expression of RNPC1, E-cadherin proteins of MDA-MB-231 cells. Furthermore, RNPC1 knockdown decreased the DR beta-H-induced up regulation of RNPC1 and E-Cadherin in MDA-MB-231 cells. RNPC1 knockdown reduced the anti metastasis activities of DR beta-H, meaning that the up-rugulation of RNPC1 by DR beta-H is essential for its anti-metastatis activities. These results suggest that DR beta-H might be a potential therapeutic candidate for the treatment of breast cancer metastasis. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.