Effect of ginsenoside Rg3 on Cx26 gene expression and gap junctional intercellular communication in human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 / 肿瘤研究与临床

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the function of ginsenoside Rg3 on proliferation in human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 and effect of ginsenoside Rg3 on Cx26 gene expression and gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) in MCF-7, cultured in vitro. MethodsHuman breast cancer cells MCF-7 was exposed to ginsenoside Rg3 at differential concentrations for 24 h, respectively. The cell proliferation inhibition was measured by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazo-2-yl]-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The expression of Cx26 mRNA was measured by RT-PCR in experimental groups and control goup. The GJIC function of MCF-7 cell was examined with scrape-loading dye transfer assay.ResultsHuman breast cancer cell line MCF-7 was exposed to ginsenoside Rg3 at a concentration of 10, 20, 40, 80, 160 μg/ml, respectively.The inhibition ratio was 3.1%, 5.2 %, 16.0 %, 26.3 %, 29.1% respectively after 24 h. Compared with control group, the concentration of 40 μg/ml above could significantly inhibit MCF-7 cell proliferation (P ＜0.05), so the experimental groups were exposed to ginsenoside Rg3 at a concentration of 40, 80, 160 μg/ml,respectively. The expression of Cx26 mRNA in every experimental group compared with control group was enhanced when MCF-7 cell was exposed to ginsenoside Rg3 at a higher concentration. It was observed that Lucifer yellow fluorescent staining was limited to a single cell in control group through fluorescent microscope,but Lucifer yellow fluorescent transfered through gap junction cells to neighboring cells, then came into being flake fluorescent staining in experiment groups. ConclusionGinsenoside Rg3 can enhance the expression of Cx26 mRNA in MCF-7 cell and restore the gap junctional intercellular communication, which may be one of important mechanisms of ginsenoside Rg3 in antitumor.