Study on the mechanism of nimesulide in inhibiting proliferation of lung adenocarcinoma cells

Objective To investigate the effect of nimesulide on proliferation and apoptosis of human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells,and to explore its action mechanism.Methods MTT assay was used to determined the effect of nimesulide on the proliferation of A549 cells.The cell cycle and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry.The expression of COX-2 and survivin mRNA was measured by RT-PCR.Western blot was used to detect the expressions of COX-2 survivin and caspase-3 protein.Results Nimesulide could inhibit the growth of A549 cells in various concentrations,and its IC 50 was 162.25 μmol/L.Nimesulide could induce apoptosis of A549 cells and the max apoptotic rate was(21.3±3.1)%.Cell-cycle analysis showed that nimesulide increased the proportion of cells in G 0/G 1 phase and decreased the proportion in S phase.In addition,nimesulide significantly down-regulated the expression of COX-2 and survivin mRNA and its protein,however,which up-regulated the expression of caspase-3 protein.Conclusion Nimesulide can inhibit A549 cell proliferation and induce apoptosis by down-regulating the expression of COX-2 and surviving,and up-regulating the expression of caspase-3.