Effect of gamma-aminobutyric acid on malignant phenotypes of hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG-2 / 中南大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE@#To determine the effect of gamma-aminobutyric acid(GABA) on proliferation and malignant phenotypes of hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG-2.@*METHODS@#HepG-2 cells were cultured by routine method, and then treated with different concentrations of GABA. The proliferation of HepG-2 cells was measured through MTT, doubling time and cell cycles by flow cytometry. The malignant phenotypes were investigated by soft agar colony formation assay.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the control group, GABA efficiently stimulated the proliferation of HepG-2 cells in a dose-dependent manner and affected the distribution of cell cycles of HepG-2 cells. The doubling time of the control group and the GABA-treated group were 39.0, 30.6, 30.0, 27.3, 26.6, and 38.2 h, respectively. The colony formation rates were 3.2%, 4.2%, 5.4%, 6.6%,6.5%, and 3.5%, respectively. Tumorigenicity testing showed that the average weights of tumor was 1.382 g, and 0.285 g for the 2 groups. The difference between the control group and the GABA-treated groups was significant (P<0.01).@*CONCLUSION@#GABA can enhance the proliferation and malignant phenotypes of HepG-2 cells.