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Published on: August 12, 2015
[PPAR-γ silencing inhibits the apoptosis of A549 cells by upregulating Bcl-2]
1Graduate School of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China. xiexiaoyuan2001@163.com
Background:
Drug resistance is the one of primary causes of death in patients with lung cancer, PPAR-γ could induce the apoptosis and reverse drug resistance. The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of PPAR-γ on cisplatin sensitivity and apoptosis response of human lung cancer cell line A549.
Methods:
Reconstruction of PPAR-γ silencing A549 cells (A549/PPAR-γ(-)) by siRNA. MTT assay was employed to determine the effect of cisplatin on the proliferation of A549/PPAR-γ(-), flow cytometry to determine the effect of cisplatin on the cell apoptosis, Western blot to determine the change of phosphorylation of Akt, caspase-3 and expression of bcl-2/bax. Finally, RT-PCR was employed to determine the transcriptional level of bcl-2.
Results:
Two PPAR-γ silencing A549 cell clones were established successfully, and the expression of PPAR-γ was downregulated significantly as confirmed by RT-PCR and Western blot. After PPAR-γ silencing, the resistance of these two A549 clones to cisplatin was increased by 1.29-fold and 1.60-fold respectively. Flow cytometry showed that the apoptosis rate was decreased, and Western Blot showed that the phosphorylation of Akt and expression of bcl-2/bax were upregulated, caspase-3 was downregulated. Finally, RT-PCR showed that the transcriptional level of bcl-2 was upregulated as well.
Conclusions:
Downregulation of PPAR-γ in A549 cells led to increase of cisplatin resistance. One of the mechanisms was upregulatin of phosphorylation of Akt and expression of bcl-2, which inhibited the apoptosis of cells. The downregulation of PPAR-γ is a possible mechanism that leads to the clinical drug resistance of cancer.
Insights
Downregulating PPAR-γ in lung cancer cells increases cisplatin resistance by inhibiting apoptosis. This PPAR-γ (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma) downregulation mechanism involves Akt and Bcl-2 pathways, contributing to clinical drug resistance.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Cancer Research
- Cell Biology
Context:
- Drug resistance is a major cause of mortality in lung cancer patients.
- Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ) plays a role in inducing apoptosis and reversing drug resistance.
Purpose:
- To investigate the role of PPAR-γ expression in cisplatin sensitivity and apoptosis in the human lung cancer cell line A549.
- To analyze the molecular mechanisms underlying PPAR-γ's influence on drug resistance.
Summary:
- PPAR-γ was successfully downregulated in A549 cells using siRNA.
- Silencing PPAR-γ significantly increased cisplatin resistance and decreased apoptosis rates.
- This was associated with upregulated Akt phosphorylation and Bcl-2 expression, and downregulated caspase-3.
Impact:
- Downregulation of PPAR-γ contributes to cisplatin resistance in lung cancer cells.
- The findings suggest a potential mechanism for clinical drug resistance involving PPAR-γ, Akt, and Bcl-2 pathways.
- This research may inform future therapeutic strategies targeting PPAR-γ to overcome drug resistance in lung cancer.
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