Expression of NF-κB and caspase-3 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line in EGCG-mediated cell proliferation inhibition and apoptosis

OBJECTIVE To study the influence of EGCG on the expression of NF-κB and caspase-3 and its relationship with proliferation and apoptosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line CNE-2.METHODS The cell proliferation ability was detected by MTT,treated with various doses of EGCG.Apoptosis of cells was observed by Hoechst staining with apoptosis rate counted.Flow Cytometry was used to analyze the changes of cell cycle.RT-PCR was applied to detect the expression of NF-κB and caspase-3.RESULTS EGCG could effectively inhibit the growth of cells,arrest the cells in G1 phase and induce cell apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner.And moreover,EGCG could down-regulate the expression of NF-κB and up-regulate the expression of caspase-3 after treated with EGCG(80 mg/L)24h and 48h later.CONCLUSION Our investigation implied that EGCG has a biological activity of antitumor.The involved mechanisms may be associated with decreased expression of NF-κB and enhanced expression of caspase-3.