Inhibitory effect of sanguinarine on growth of xenograft tumors of gastric cancer GTL-16 cells in nude mice and its related mechanism / 肿瘤

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate the antitumor effect of sanguinarine (SAN) in vivo and its possible mechanism. Methods: The tumor-bearing BALB/c male nude mouse models were established by subcutaneous inoculation of gastric cancer GTL-1 6 cells. The mouse models were divided into three groups [14 mice in each group were intragastrically administered with 0.9% NaCl solution (as the control group), 2.5 mg/kg SAN and 5.0 mg/kg SAN every other day for 7 times, respectively]. The general status of the mice was observed, and the tumor volume was measured. After 28 days, the mice were sacrificed, then the tumor volume and weight were recorded. The histopathologic examination of tumor tissues was performed using hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. Then the protein expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in tumor tissues was detected by Western blotting. Results: As compared with the control group, the tumors grew slowly in SAN treatment groups. At autopsy, the volume and weight of tumors in SAN treatment groups were all smaller than those in the control group (P < 0.01), and the tumor volume and weight were smallest in 5.0 mg/kg SAN group (P < 0.01). The result of histopathologic examination revealed that SAN treatment could reduce the accumulation of tumor cells and epidermal invasion of tumor cells. The expression levels of EGFR were significantly lower in SAN treatment groups than that in the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: SAN inhibits the growth of tumor in nude mice inoculated with gastric cancer GTL-16 cells, and which may be related to the downregulation of EGFR expression.