Comparison of As2O3 and As4O6 in the Detection of SiHa Cervical Cancer Cell Growth Inhibition Pathway / Journal of the Korean Cancer Association, 대한암학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: An arsenical compound, As2O3, has been reported to be effective for treating acute leukemia and inducing apoptosis in many different tumor cells. In this study, the ability of As4O6 to suppress cell growth and induce gene expression patterns was tested using a cDNA microarray in HPV16 immortalized cervical carcinoma cells, SiHa cells, along with As2O3. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A novel arsenical compound, As4O6, was designed and its ability to induce cell growth inhibition as well as gene expression profiles along with As2O3 in HPV16 infected SiHa cervical cancer cells was compared. Both As2O3 and As4O6 induced apoptosis in SiHa cells, as determined by DNA ladder formation. To further compare the gene expression profiles between these two drugs, a 384 cDNA microarray system was employed. Also, the gene expression profiles were classified into the Gene Ontology (GO) to investigate apoptosis-related cellular processes. RESULTS: As4O6 was more effective i suppressing the growth of SiHa cells in vitro compared to As2O3. In the case of treatment with As2O3, 41 genes were up- or down- regulated at least 2 fold compared to non-treatment. However, 65 genes were up- or down-regulated by As4O6 treatment. In particular, 27 genes were commonly regulated by both arsenic compounds. Also, the GO analysis indicated that down-regulation of cell-regulatory functions, such as cell cycle, protein kinase activity and DNA repair, induced anti-tumor effect. CONCLUSION: These data support that As4O6 could be more effective than As2O3 in inhibiting the growth of HPV16 infected cervical cancer cells. This appears to be mediated through a unique, but overlapping regulatory mechanism(s), suggesting that the regulated genes and cellular processes could be further used as a new potential drug approach for treating cervical cancer in clinical settings.