Abstract:
Objective:To investigate the mechanisms of metformin in inducing autophagy of gastric cancer MNK -45 cells.
Methods:Human gastric cancer MNK -45 cells in logarithmic growth phase were incubated in the culture plates, and were divided into the intervention group [gastric cancer MNK -45 cells were intervened by metformin at different concentrations (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 mmol/L) for 24, 48, 72 hours] and the 〖HJ*8〗control group (gastric cancer MNK -45 cells were cultured in the DMEM medium). The inhibition rate of gastric cancer MNK -45 cells was detected by MTT method. The IC 50 value of metformin on gastric cancer MNK -45 cells was 17 mmol/L. Gastric cancer MNK -45 cells were intervened by metformin at 17 mmol/L for 48 hours in the experimental group. Gastric cancer MNK -45 cells in the control group were cultured in DMEM medium at 17 mmol/L for 48 hours. The apoptosis of the gastric cancer MNK -45 cells of the 2 groups were detected by flow cytometry. The mRNA expressions of Bax and Bcl -2 of the 2 groups were detected by RT PCR. The protein expressions of type Ⅰ LC3b, type Ⅱ LC3b, beclin1, AKT, p AKT, mTOR, p mTOR, P70s6k, p P70s6k of the 2 groups were detected by Western blot. The measurement data were presented as ±s, and were analyzed using the one way ANOVA or repeated measures ANOVA. Data of the 2 groups were compared using the t test.
Results:The inhibition rates of gastric cancer MNK -45 cells were 3.0% ±1.1%, 8.6% ±1.7%, 15.9% ±1.6%, 26.1% ±3.4%, 37.5% ± 2.3%, 49.7% ±3.6% after intervention by metformin at concentrations of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 mmol/L for 24 hours, 5.2% ±1.9%, 10.4% ±2.1%, 26.9% ±1.6%, 49.5% ±1.6%, 59.1% ±2.0%, 82.1% ±2.2% after intervention by metformin at concentrations of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 mmol/L for 48 hours, and 9.5% ±2.2%, 17.6% ±1.4%, 30.6% ±2.6%, 63.2% ±2.6%, 78.9% ±1.4%, 93.3% ±2.7% after intervention by metformin at concentrations of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 mmol/L for 72 hours. There were significant differences in the inhibition rates among the 6 groups at the same time points (F=155.174, 728.229, 743.826, P<0.05), and significant differences were also observed within the same group at different time points (F=39.420, 58.692, 166.125, 30.383, 117.517, 311.642, P<0.05). The apoptosis rates of gastric cancer MNK -45 cells in the experimental group and the control group were 25.4% ±1.7% and 6.9% ±0.5%, with significant difference between the 2 groups (t=18.378, P<0.05). The relative mRNA expressions of Bax/Bcl -2 mRNA in the experimental group and the control group were 1.88±0.16 and 1.00±0.00, with significant difference between the 2 groups (t= 9.743, P<0.05). The relative protein expressions of LC3Ⅱ/LC3Ⅰ and beclin 1 in the gastric cancer MNK -45 cells were 1.65±0.08 and 1.47±0.06 in the experimental group and 0.79±0.03 and 0.56±0.06 in the control group, with significant difference between the 2 groups (t=18.023, 18.283, P<0.05). The relative protein expressions of AKT and P70s6k in the gastric cancer MNK -45 cells were 0.80±0.14 and 0.97±0.21 in the experimental group and 0.96±0.17 and 1.37±0.23 in the control group, with no significant difference between the 2 groups (t=2.103, 1.699, P>0.05). The relative protein expressions of mTOR and p mTOR were 0.58± 0.11 and 0.57±0.15 in the experimental group and 1.88±0.23 and 2.36±0.25 in the control group, with significant difference between the 2 groups (t=11.293, 10.979, P<0.05). No p AKT and p P70s6k expression was detected in the experimental group, and the expressions of p AKT and p P70s6k in the control group were 1.00±0.00 and 1.00±0.00, respectively.
Conclusion:Metformin could induce autophagy, inhibit proliferation and promote apoptosis of gastric cancer MNK -45 cells. The mechanism may be associated with the inhibition of mTOR expression and the expression of mTOR downstream proteins p P70s6k by metformin, and then the autophagy of gastric cancer MNK -45 cells happens.