Inhibitive effects of nimesulide on cyclooxygenase-2 expression and proliferation in human esophageal carcinoma Eca-109 cells

Aim To study the effects of selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor,nimesulide,on COX-2 expression, cell proliferation and apoptosis of human esophageal carcinoma Eca-109 cell lines. Methods MTT assay was used to observe the proliferative effect;COX-2 mRNA expression was evaluated with RT-PCR; COX-2 protein expression,cell cycle and apoptosis were analyzed with flow cytometry;microscope and agarose gel electrophoresis of DNA were also used to observe the apoptosis. Results Nimesulide significantly inhibited the proliferation of Eca-109 cell lines in a time and dose-depenent fashion, down-regulated the expression of COX-2 mRNA and COX-2 protein in a dose-dependent fashion;nimesulide also decreased the proliferation index and the proportion of cells in S phase, meanwhile increased the proportion of cells in G_0/G_1 phase and induced apoptosis. Conclusion COX-2 selective inhibitor nimesulide inhibits proliferation,induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest of human esophageal cells via down-regulation of COX-2 expression.