Effect of indomethacin on Hep-2 cell proliferation,apoptosis and COX-2 expression

To study effects of indomethacin on proliferation,apoptosis and COX2 expression of laryngeal cancer cell Hep-2,Hep-2 cells were exposed to indomethacin at concentrations of 125,250,500 μM,cultured for 24h.MTT,trypan blue exclusion experiments and acridine orange and propidium iodide staining were used to determine cell proliferation,cell viability,cell morphology and cell cycle distribution as well as apoptosis,respectively.Western blot was used to evaluate expression of COX-2.Results showed that the cell proliferation and viability were down regulated by indomethacin significantly,the cell appearances were varied greatly and the cells in S phase were increased and appeared obvious apoptosis peaks on exposure to indomethacin;but the expression of COX-2 was enhancced by indomethacin.These results imply that indomethacin strongly inhibits the cell proliferation and viability,varies the cell appearance,arrests cells in S phase and induces cell apoptosis;the mechanism of these effects of indomethacin on Hep-2 cells may be unrelated with the specific inhibitory effect on COX-2 pathway.