ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the effect and elucidate the mechanism of the selective cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2)inhibitor NS-398 on apoptosis and survivin, XIAP and c-IAP1 expressions of hepatocarcinoma cell lines. Methods:The proliferation of hepatocarcinoma BEL-7402 cells treated with NS-298 at different concentrations were evaluated by MTT assay. The apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry (FCM) and TUNEL assay. Expressions of COX-2, survivin, XIAP and c-IAP1 were analyzed by immunocytochemical staining. Results: NS-398 significantly inhibited cell proliferation of BEL-7402 cells and induced apoptosis. Immunocytochemisty indicated that the expressions of COX-2, survivin, XIAP and c-IAP1 were significantly down-regulated in BEL-7402 cells by NS-398 treatment compared with untreatment group (P<0.01). Conclusion:NS-398 inhibits the proliferation and induced apoptosis of BEL-7402 cells. The mechanism may be related with down-regulation of the survivin, XIAP and c-IAP1 expression.