Inhibition by indomethacin on the growth of pancreatic cancer cell line BxPC-3 and its mechanism

Objective To investigate the effect and possible mechanism of indomethacin,a cyclooxygenase inhibitor,on human pancreatic cell lines BxPC-3 in vitro and in vivo.Methods MTT assay was used to detected the proliferation of BxPC-3 after exposure to indomethacin,apoptosis and cell cycle changes were studied by flow cytometry,transmission electron microscope and TUNEL.The xenografts derived from BxPC-3 cancer cells were inoculated into the BALB/C nude mice,the mice were treated with indomethacin(3mg/kg oral lavage daily) for four weeks,tumor growth curve was observed after treatment and cancer cell apoptosis of xenografts was detected by TUNEL.Results Indomethacin inhibited BxPC-3 cells growth in a dose and time dependent manner in vitro.TUNEL and flow cytometry demonstrated an increase of apoptosis cells proportion and cell cycle G0/G1 arrest after indomethacin treatment.The morphology of BxPC-3 cells showed typical apoptosis with transmission electron microscope.A delay of tumor progression was observed in indomethacin group with a more prolonged time in a nude mice xenograft model in vivo,the cancer cell apoptosis proportion of xenograft tumor tissues was higher.Conclusion The growth of BxPC-3 cells could be suppressed by indomethacin both in vitro and in vivo and possible mechanisms involved the induce of the cancer cell apoptosis and cancer cell cycle G0/G1 arrest.