Effects of Arsenic Trioxide-Induced Apoptosis in Gastric Cancer Cells and Their bcl-2 Gene,bax Protein Expression

Objective To investigate the mechanism of arsenic trioxide-induced apoptosis in gastric cancer cells and their bcl-2 gene and bax protein expressions.Methods As2O3 with concentrations of 0 μmol/L,1 μmol/L,2 μmol/L,4 μmol/L and 8 μmol/L were used on gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells for 24 h,48 h and 72 h respectively.MTT assay was used to detect the absorbance value and cell growth inhibition rate,and flow cytometry(FCM)was used to detect bcl-2 gene and Bax protein expressions.Results MTT absorbance value decreased with the increase of the concentration of As2O3 and the increase of duration.The 1 μmol/L,2 μmol/L,4 μmol/L and 8 μmol/L groups were compared respectively with 0 μmol/L group,and the differences of absorbance value at different times were all statistically significant(P0.05).As2O3 of 1 μmol/L concentration had little inhibitory effect on the proliferation of cells,but its inhibitory effect on cells proliferation increased with the increase of the concentration of As2O3 and the increase of duration.The 2 μmol/L,4 μmol/L and 8 μmol/L groups were compared with 1 μmol/L group respectively,and the differences of inhibitory rate of cells proliferation at different times were all statistically significant(P0.05).The bcl-2 gene expression was low and the bax protein expression was high after the SGC-7901 cells were intervened by different concentrations of As2O3.bcl-2/bax ratio was decreased in a dose-dependent manner.The differences of bcl-2 gene expressions and bax protein expressions between groups with different As2O3 concentrations and the control group were statistically significant(P0.05).Conclusion As2O3 has significant inhibitory effect on the growth of gastric cancer cells,and its mechanism may be related to the down regulate of bcl-2 gene expression and the up regulate of bax protein expression to induce the apoptosis of gastric cancer cells.