Effects and mechanisms of action of sulforaphane on the cell cycle of human gastric adenocarcinoma SGC7901 cells

OBJECTIVE To study the effects and mechanism of action of sulforaphane(SFN)on SGC7901 cell cycle.METHODS MTT colorimetric assay was used to determine the inhibitory effect on sells proliferation of SGC7901 cells.Flow cytometric analysis was used to detect cell cycle.Transmission electron microscopy was used to observe the morphological variations of apoptotic cells.RT-PCR was used to examine the mRNA expression of P21 and P73 gene.RESULTS SFN inhibited the proliferation of SGC7901 cells obviously.Flow cytometric analysis indicated a pronounced increase in the G0/G1 phase and an obvious decrease in the S phase after treated with 6.25-25 μmol·L-1 SFN compared with the control group.After treatment with 25 μmol·L-1 SFN for 24 h,typical early apoptosis morphological changes of SGC7901 cells were observed under transmission electron microscope,and the expression of P21 and P73 mRNA increased in a dose-dependent manner.CONCLUSION SFN could inhibit the proliferation of SGC7901 cells.SFN could cause arrest of SGC7901 cells at G0/G1 phase.Effect of SFN on cells at G0/G1 Phase may be attributed to the up-regulation of P21 and P73 gene.