黄芩素能下调诱捕受体3表达抑制肝癌干细胞的生物学行为

Baicalein inhibits the biological behavior of hepatocellular carcinoma stem cells by downregulation of Decoy receptor 3 expression

背景:目前尚未见有关以肝癌干细胞为靶向的中草药抗肝癌机制的报道,因此有必要展开相关研究。目的:探讨黄芩素对肝癌干细胞诱捕受体3表达的影响,以及下调诱捕受体3表达对肝癌干细胞生物学行为的影响。方法:按照课题组之前建立的技术方法,从肝癌细胞株(购自中国科学院上海细胞库)中获得肝癌干细胞。将肝癌干细胞分为黄芩素高、中、低剂量组以及对照组,黄芩素高、中、低剂量组分别用含200,100,50μmol/L黄芩素的L-DMEM培养基培养,对照组仅用L-DMEM培养基培养。采用RT-PCR、Western blot检测黄芩素处理后诱捕受体3 mRNA和蛋白表达变化,采用CCK8法、流式细胞术、Transwell法检测肝癌干细胞增殖、细胞周期分布、凋亡和迁移情况。结果与结论:①与对照组相比,高剂量黄芩素能显著下调肝癌干细胞诱捕受体3的mRNA和蛋白表达,因此确认高剂量黄芩素为最佳作用浓度;②与对照组相比,高剂量黄芩素组肝癌干细胞的增殖能力明显下降,S期和G2期细胞比例增加,而G1期的细胞比例则减少(P<0.05);③与对照组相比,高剂量黄芩素组肝癌干细胞的凋亡率明显增加,迁移能力明显下降;④结果表明,高剂量黄芩素能通过下调肝癌干细胞的诱捕受体3表达而抑制细胞的一系列生物学行为,为临床上以诱捕受体3为靶点,以肝癌干细胞为对象进行肝癌治疗提供了实验依据。

BACKGROUND:To date,there is no report on the anti-hepatoma mechanism of Chinese herbal medicine targeting hepatocellular carcinoma stem cells;therefore,relevant research is necessary.OBJECTIVE:To observe the effect of baicalein on the expression of Decoy receptor 3 in hepatocellular carcinoma stem cells as well as the biological behavior of hepatocellular carcinoma stem cells after down-regulation of Decoy receptor 3.METHODS:Hepatocellular carcinoma stem cells were obtained from hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines(purchased from the Cell Bank,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Shanghai,China),cultured and passaged.The cells were cultured in the low-glucose DMEM containing nothing(control group),200(high-dose group),100(middle-dose group)or 50μmol/L(low-dose group)baicalein.After treatment with baicalein,RT-PCR and western blot were used to detect the expression of decoy receptor 3 at mRNA and protein levels.Cell counting kit-8,flow cytometry,and Transwell assay were used to detect the proliferation,cell cycle distribution,apoptosis and migration of hepatocellular carcinoma stem cells.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the control group,high-dose baicalein could significantly down-regulated the expression of decoy receptor 3 mRNA and protein in hepatocellular carcinoma stem cells.High-dose baicalein was then confirmed to be the best concentration of action.Compared with the control group,in the high-dose baicalein group,the proliferation ability of hepatocellular carcinoma stem cells decreased significantly,the percentage of S-phase and G2-phase cells increased,while the percentage of G1-phase cells decreased(P<0.05).Compared with the control group,in the high-dose baicalein group,the apoptotic rate of hepatocellular carcinoma stem cells increased significantly,while the migration ability decreased markedly.To conclude,high-dose baicalein can inhibit a series of biological behaviors of hepatocellular carcinoma stem cells by down-regulating the expression of Decoy receptor 3,which provides an experimental basis for clinical treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma with Decoy receptor 3 as the target and hepatocellular carcinoma stem cells as the object.