Effect of selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor NS-398 on cell apoptosis in K562 cells and its underlying mechanism / 中国药理学通报

ABSTRACT

Aim To investigate the effect of selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor, NS-398, on cell apoptosis in leukemia cell line K562 cells and its underlying mechanism. Methods Apoptotic cell percentage was examined by flow cytometry(FCM). The protein expression of Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 was detected by Western blot, and the activity of Caspase-3 was checked by FCM. Results NS-398 induced the cell apoptosis in K562 cells in a dose-dependent manner. After NS-398 treatment, the expression of Bcl-2 protein was downregulated, whereas the expression of Caspase-3 protein was upregulated. Moreover,the activity of Caspase-3 was increased in a dose-dependent way after NS-398 treatment. Conclusion Selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor,NS-398,significantly induced apoptosis in K562 cells. The underlying mechanism might be related to the downregulation of Bcl-2 and the activation of Caspase-3.