Effects of arsenic trioxide on migration, invasion and apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells / 生物医学工程学杂志

The article aims to explore the optimal concentration of arsenic trioxide (As O ) on HepG2 of liver cancer cells, and the effect of As O on the migration, invasion and apoptosis of HepG2 cells. In this study, the activity of HepG2 cells treated with 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 μmol/L As O was tested by CCK-8 method, the semi-inhibitory concentration (IC50) was calculated, and the morphological changes of HepG2 cells were observed after the action of As O at IC50 concentration for 12, 24, 48 h. The effect of As O on cell migration and invasion ability was verified by wound healing experiment and Transwell invasion experiment. Western blot and qRT-PCR were used to detect the effects of As O on the gene and protein expression levels related to cell migration, invasion and apoptosis. The results showed that, compared with the control group, the activity of HepG2 cells decreased with the increase of the concentration of As O treatment, showing a dose-dependent effect, and its IC50 was 7.3 μmol/L. After 24 hours' treatment with 8 μmol/L As O , HepG2 cells underwent significant apoptosis, and its migration and invasion abilities were significantly reduced. In addition, the protein expression levels of RhoA, Cdc42, Rac1 and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) were down-regulated, the protein and mRNA expression levels of anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2 were significantly down-regulated, and the protein and mRNA expression levels of pro-apoptotic genes Bax and Caspase-3 were significantly up-regulated. The above results indicate that certain concentration of As O can inhibit the migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and promote the apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Integrins mediate the migration of HepG2 cells induced by low shear stress / 生物医学工程学杂志

Low shear stress is a component of the tumor microenvironment in vivo and plays a key role in regulating cancer cell migration and invasion. The integrin, as a mechano-sensors mediating and integrating mechanical and chemical signals, induce the adhesion between cells and extracellular matrix (ECM). The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of low shear stress (1.4 dyn/cm2)on the migration of HepG2 cells and the expression of integrin. Scratch wound migration assay was performed to examine the effect of low shear stress on the migration of HepG2 cells at 0 h, 1 h, 2 h and 4 h, respectively. F-actin staining was used to detect the expression of F-actin in HepG2 cells treated with low shear stress at 2 h and 4 h. Western blot analysis was carried out to determine the effect of low shear stress on the expression of integrin at different durations. The results showed that the migrated distance of HepG2 cells and the expression of F-actin increased significantly compared with the controls. The integrin alpha subunits showed a different time-dependent expression, suggesting that various subunits of integrin exhibit different effects in low shear stress regulating cancer cells migration.

Role of focal adhesion kinase in adhesion and migration of Hep G2 cells / 生物医学工程学杂志

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) plays a critical role in the process of cell adhesion and migration by regulating the expression of downstream small G proteins. A kind of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitor was used to inhibit the phosphorylation of Y397 site of FAK, and scratch wound migration assay was used to examine the effect of FAK inhibitor with different concentrations (0-250 nmol/mL) on the migration of hepatomal cells (Hep G2 cells) at 0, 2, 4, 8 and 24h. Immunofluorescence analysis and Western blot analysis were performed to detect the expression of F-actin and small G proteins Rac1, RhoA and Cdc42 in Hep G2 cells treated with FAK inhibitor for 120 min. The results indicated that the FAK inhibitor can inhibit the migration of Hep G2 cells with a dose- and time-dependent manner. F-actin was down-regulated in Hep G2 cells treated with FAK inhibitor for 120 min, and expression of small G proteins were inhibited at different durations. The inhibition of FAK phosphorylation could inhibit cell adhesion and migration by down-regulating small G proteins. These results suggested that FAK inhibitor can inhibit the migration of tumor cells by blocking FAK phosphorylation. This means that FAK inhibitor can block the metastasis of tumor cells to surrounding tissues. It may be a potential application in the prevention and treatment of cancer.