Effect and mechanism of heat shock protein inhibitors on cell proliferation and apoptosis in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma / 中国耳鼻咽喉头颈外科

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE To study the effect of different concentrations of 17-AAG and EGCG monotherapy or in combination on the induced apoptosis in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and to explore new molecular targets for the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. METHODS MTT colorimetric method and fluorescent staining were used to detect the change of CNE proliferation inhibition rate and cell morphology. And furthermore, the expression level of Bcl-2, Bax, Caspase-3 were detected by RT-PCR. RESULTS 1. 17-AAG or EGCG alone had inhibitory effect on the human nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE cells at 24 h, 48h and 72 h, and it was related with time and dose(P<0.01). The inhibition effect of combination of 17-AAG and EGCG was significantly increased,which was time and dose dependent(P<0.01). 2. RT-PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression level of Bcl-2, Bax and caspase-3. The level of Caspase-3 and Bax mRNA expression after treated by 17-AAG and EGCG was significantly higher, and the level of bcl-2 mRNA expression was lower than that after treated by 17-AAG or EGCG alone. CONCLUSION Our investigation implied that 17-AAG and EGCG in combination can effectively inhibit the proliferation of human nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE cells. The involved mechanisms may be associated with the upregulation of Bax and Caspase-3 expression.