ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effect of decitabine on the biological function of A431 cells and examine its mechanism.Methods Different concentrations (5,10,and 20 μmol/L) of decitabine were used to treat A431 cells.The effect of decitabine on cell proliferation was observed on MTT.Hoechst 33258 staining was used to detect A431 cell apoptosis after the administration of decitabine.The metastasis of A431 cells was detected via transwell assay.The expressions of the proteins related to cell proliferation,apoptosis,invasion,and metastasis were detected using Western blotting and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).Results The MTT assay revealed that after treatment with 5,10,and 20 μmol/L decitabine,the inhibition rates of cell proliferation were 43.81％ ± 1.53％,48.64％ ± 4.65％,and 50.69％ ± 4.99％.With the increase in drug concentration,the rate of inhibition of A431 cell proliferation increased significantly (P ＜ 0.05).Hoechst 33258 staining showed that this treatment could promote apoptosis significantly.The transwell experiments showed that decitabine significantly inhibited the metastasis of A431 cells.Western blotting and real-time PCR showed that the expressions of Cyclin B1,CDC2,Bax,Bcl-2 and MMP2 protein and mRNA in A431 cells were significantly affected by decitabine (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Decitabine has a strong inhibitory effect on the biological function of vulvar squamous cell carcinoma and can be used as a chemotherapeutic agent for vulvar squamous cell carcinoma.