Effect of dexamethasone on the proliferation and apoptosis of rat liver cell line BRL-3A

Objective To explore the effect of dexamethasone on cell proliferation and apoptosis in the rat liver cell line BRL-3A in vitro. Methods BRL-3A cells were treated with different concentrations of dexamethasone,and MTT method was used to observe the effect of dexamethasone on cell activity at 12,24,48,72 and 120 hours after treatment.Annexin V-FITC staining and propidium iodide( PI) staining were used to detect the effect of cell apoptosis and cell cycle.Real-time PCR was used to evaluate the changes in the expression of related genes. Results The result of MTT assays revealed that dexamethasone inhibited the proliferation of BRL-3A cells in a dose-dependent manner. Annexin V-FITC staining showed that dexamethasone significantly induced the apoptosis of BRL-3A. PI staining indicated that the ability of proliferation decreased in the cells treated with dexamethasone. Real-time PCR analysis showed that pro-apoptosis genes Caspase-3,Caspase-8 and Caspase-9 were up-regulated,while pro-proliferation genes Ccnd1 and Jun were down-regulated.Conclusion Dexamethasone may inhibit the proliferation of BRL-3A cell line and induce its apoptosis by up-regulating Caspase-3,Caspase-8 and Caspase-9 and down-regulating the expression of Ccnd1 and Jun.