ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effect of treatment with TNF-α on growth ability of colon cancer cells and its possible mechanism.Methods Human colon cancer HT-29 cells were treated with TNF-α(10 nmol/L). The effect of TNF-αon the proliferative ability was examined by cell growth curve assay and MTT assay,respectively. Cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry.Protein levels ofβ-catenin,c-myc and cyclinD1 were detected by Western blot.We also observed the effect of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway blockage by XAV9 3 9 on TNF-α's promoting prolif-eration of colon cancer cells and proteins related to the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.Results Upon treatment with TNF-α,the proliferative ability of HT-29 cells was enhanced (all P＜0.05),G0/G1 phase cell ratio was decreased (P＜0.05),and S phase cell ratio was increased (P＜0.05).The protein levels ofβ-catenin,c-myc and cyclinD1 were increased in TNF-α-treated HT-29 cells (all P＜0.05).XAV939 treatment resulted in a significant inhibition of cell proliferation ability (all P＜0.05)as well as the protein levels ofβ-catenin,c-myc and cyclinD1 (all P＜0.05) in the TNF-α-treated HT29 cells.Conclusion TNF-αmay be involved in the occurrence and development of colon cancer by activating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and promoting the proliferation of colon cancer cells.