Effect of Jianpi Yangzheng Recipe on Apoptosis and EMT of HCT116 Cells in Colorectal Cancer by Inhibiting Aerobic Glycolysis Regulated by PKM2 / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the mechanism of Jianpi Yangzheng recipe in inhibiting aerobic glycolysis by down-regulating the expression of pyruvate kinase isoenzyme M2 (PKM2) protein, in order to promote apoptosis and inhibite epithelial-mesenchymal transition（EMT）in HCT116 cells of colorectal cancer. Method:The effect of different concentrations of Jianpi Yangzheng recipe on HCT116 cell proliferation was detected by methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide（MTT）colorimetry. Flow cytometry was used to detect the effect of different concentrations of Jianpi Yangzheng recipe（2.0, 4.0, 8.0 g·L-1） on HCT116 cell apoptosis. The effect of Jianpi Yangzheng recipe（2.0, 4.0, 8.0 g·L-1） on the migration and invasion ability of HCT116 cells was observed by cell scratch and cell invasion assay (Transwell). The effect of different concentrations of Jianpi Yangzheng recipe（2.0, 4.0, 8.0 g·L-1） on glycolysis metabolism of HCT116 cells were detected by lactic acid (LD) test kit and glucose assay kit, respectively. Western blot was used to detect the expressions of apoptosis-related proteins, like B lymphocyte tumor-2 gene (Bcl-2), Bcl-2 related X protein (Bax) and EMT-related proteins, like epithelial cadherin (E-cadherin)，neurogenic cadherin（N-cadherin）, Vimentin, and PKM2, the key protein of glycolysis, in each group. Result:MTT assay showed that, compared with the blank group, HCT116 cells were treated with Jianpi Yangzheng recipe for 48 h. With the increase of drug concentration, the inhibitory effect of Jianpi Yangzheng recipe on the proliferation of HCT116 cells was also increased; and when the concentration was 4.0 g·L-1, the inhibition rate of HCT116 cells was about 53.87%. Therefore, 2.0，4.0，8.0 g·L-1 were selected as low, medium and high-dose groups for the study. The cell flow cytometry results indicated that, compared with the blank group, the low, medium and high-dose groups all significantly induced the apoptosis of HCT116 cells (P<0.05), and the effect in inducing apoptosis was more obvious with the increase of drug concentration (P<0.05). Cell scratch and Transwell showed that, compared with the blank group, all the groups had an inhibitory effect on migration and invasion of HCT116 cells (P<0.05), and the effect was more significant with the increase of drug concentration (P<0.05). The determination of lactic acid and glucose indicated that compared with the blank group, with the increase of drug concentration, the amount of lactic acid produced by cells in each group gradually decreased (P<0.05), while the glucose dosage also gradually decreased (P<0.05). Western blot showed that, compared with the blank group, the protein expressions of E-cadherin and Bax were up-regulated in groups with different concentrations, whereas the protein expressions of N-cadherin, Vimentin, Bcl-2 and PKM2 were down-regulated (P<0.05). Conclusion:Jianpi Yangzheng recipe can effectively induce the apoptosis of HCT116 cells and inhibit EMT in colorectal cancer. The possible mechanism may be related to the inhibition of aerobic glycolysis pathway of HCT116 cells by down-regulating PKM2 protein expression.