ABSTRACT
This research explored the synergistic effects and the potential mechanisms of RCE-4 and various nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on the proliferation of cervical cancer Ca Ski cells. The MTT assay and CalcuSyn V2.0 software were used to detect cell proliferation and calculate the combination index (CI); the expression levels of various proteins were analyzed using Western blot assay; mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was assessed using JC-1 staining; acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) double-fluorescence staining was used to detect the apoptosis of Ca Ski cells; a co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) assay was used to analyze the relative content of Bcl-2-Beclin 1 complex in Ca Ski cells. The results demonstrate that the combination of RCE-4 and NSAIDs increases the inhibition of Ca Ski cells compared to the single-RCE-4 group, and celecoxib provided the best synergistic effect among the four NSAIDs tested, with a CI of 0.32. The combination of RCE-4 and celecoxib significantly down-regulated the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and nuclear transcription factor-κB (NF-κB), and promoted the expression of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs activity gene-1 (NAG-1). In addition, autophagy induced by RCE-4 was markedly inhibited in combination with celecoxib, which was associated with down-regulation of the expression of microtubule-associated protein 3 (LC3)-II, Beclin 1, p62 and autophagy-related gene (ATG) 3/4B/5/7/14. RCE-4-induced apoptosis was significantly enhanced by altering the depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential and the expression of B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), B cell lymphoma-xl (Bcl-xl), Bcl-2 associated X protein (Bax), Bcl-2/Bcl-xl-associated death promoter (Bad) and cleaved cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase (cleaved-caspase) 3/7/9. Furthermore, the formation of the Bcl-2-Beclin 1 complex was significantly inhibited in Ca Ski cells treated with RCE-4 in combination with celecoxib. Taken together, this research shows that the combination of RCE-4 and celecoxib has a significant synergistic effect on the proliferation of Ca Ski cells by promoting apoptosis, inhibiting autophagy and disturbing the formation of the Bcl-2-Beclin 1 complex, which may be a novel strategy to increase the sensitivity of anti-cervical cancer drugs.
ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the effects of olprinone on ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) induced myocardial injury in male (Sprague-Dawley, SD rats) and explore its mechanisms. Methods Rats were subjected to a 30-min coronary arterial occlusion followed by 24-hour reperfusion. The survival rats were randomly divided into sham group (n=6), ischemia reperfusion group (I/R group, n=9), ischemia reperfusion+low dose of olprinone group(IR+olprinone-L group, n=6), ischemia reperfusion+medium dose of olprinone group (IR+olprinone-M group, n=6),ischemia reperfusion +high dose of olprinone group (IR+olprinone-H group, n=6). A MAP heart function analysis system was used to measure hemodynamic parameters; TTC staining method was used to detect the myocardial infarct size;24-hour mortality of SD rats was recorded; western blot was used to detect the levels of Caspase-3, Bax,Bcl-2, LC3B/LC3A,Beclin-1. Results Cardiac function in I/R group was lower than that in sham group, which was significantly improved by pretreatment with olprinone (P＜0.01),but systolic arterial pressure (SAP) diastolic arterial pressure (DAP) mean arterial pressure (MAP) mean pressure developed in left ventricle (Pmean) had no significant difference (P＞0.05). The percentage of myocardial infarct size in olprinone-M and olprinone-H group was lower than that in I/R group (P＜0.05).There was no significant difference in mortality among groups within 24 hours. Compared with sham group, the expressions of Caspase-3 and Bax were obviously up-regulated in I/R group (P＜0.01), whereas caspase-3 was down-regulated in olprinone-M group (P＜0.05) and Bax was inhibited by different doses of olprinone (P＜0.05), but the expression of Bcl-2 increased (P＜0.05); furthermore, the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax decreased in I/R group (P＜0.01) and increased with different degrees in different doses of olprinone (P＜0.05). Meanwhile, compared with sham group, the expression of Beclin-1 was up-regulated in I/R group(P＜0.05),and also increased in olprinone-L and olprinone-M groups(P＜0.05), but the ratio of Bcl-2 /Beclin-1 decreased in different doses of olprinone making statistically significant difference only in olprinone-M group (P＜0.05). Moreover, different doses of olprinone elevated the different ratios of LC3B/LC3A (P＜0.05), and this elevated ratio in olprinone-M group at median among groups. Conclusions Olprinone can strengthen the cardiac function after myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury, without leading to disorders in hemodynamics; by regulating autophagy with anti-apoptotic protein, olprinone can make autophagy to an appropriate level using the mechanism of autophagy to preventing the myocardium from injury.