Inhibitory effect of arsenic trioxide on human glioma cell growth / 中国病理生理杂志

ABSTRACT

AIM: To investigate the inhibitory effect of arsenic trioxide on human glioma cell line U251 growth, change of gene expression and intracellular calcium content. METHODS: MTT method was used to observe the growth inhibition effect. Cell cycle, positive rate of proliferation cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), apoptosis associated protein Fas and Bcl-2, and intracellular calcium ion (IECa~ 2+ ) levels were measured by flow cytometry in U251 cells treated with different doses of As_2O_3. Apoptosis was detected with annexin V-FITC+PI dual parameter. RESULTS: As_2O_3 inhibited the growth of U251 cells dramatically. There were obvious dosage-effect and time-effect correlations (P0.05). The cell cycle was arrested in G_2M phase. Apoptosis occurred in U251 cells treated with As_2O_3 by annexin V-FITC+PI dual parameter detection. CONCLUSION: As_2O_3 inhibits the growth of U251 cells in vitro dramatically and induces apoptosis. The mechanism is probably associated with the improvement of Fas expression and IECa~ 2+ levels, decrease in PCNA protein expression and cell cycle arrest.