| Objective To investigate the effect of luteolin combined with down-regulation of miR-425-5p on the biological characteristics of cervical cancer cellsand the underlying mechanism. Methods Cervical cancer HeLa cells (purchased from the Tumor Cell Bank of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences) were divided into control group (no treatment), anti-NC group (inhibitor control transfected with Lipofectamine 2000 in HeLa cells), anti-miR-425-5p group (miR-425-5p inhibitor transfected with Lipofectamine 2000 in HeLa cells), Luteolin + anti-NC group (inhibitor controltransfected with Lipofectamine 2000 in HeLa cells, treated with 40μmol/L luteolin), Luteolin + anti-miR-425-5p group (miR-425-5p inhibitor transfected with Lipofectamine 2000 in HeLa cells, treated with 40μmol/L luteolin), a total of five groups, and the A value of cells after 24 hours of culture (the A value represents cell proliferation activity) inthe abovefive groups were determined by MTT. The plate cloning experiment was used to measure the rate of clone formation after 12 days of culture, the flow cytometry was employed to detect the rate of cell apoptosis after 24 hours of culture, the Transwell chamber was appliedto measure cell invasion and migration after 24 hours of culture, and Western blot was used to detect p-Akt, c-Caspase-3, c-Caspase-9, MMP-9, MMP-2, Bax, Bcl-2 protein expression levels in cells after 24 hours of culture. Results Compared with anti-NC group, the cell proliferation activity, invasion number, migration number and MMP-9, MMP-2,p-Akt protein in anti-miR-425-5p, luteolin + anti-NC, luteolin + anti-miR-425-5p group were significantly reduced, the rate of apoptosis and the levels of c-Caspase-3, c-Caspase-9, and Bax protein increased, and the expression of Bcl-2 protein decreased,the difference being statistically significant (P<0.05). Compared with anti-miR-425-5p, luteolin + anti-NC group, the cell proliferation activity, invasion number, migration number and MMP-9, MMP-2, p-Akt in luteolin + Anti-miR-425-5p group were significantly reduced, the apoptotic rate and the levels of c-Caspase-3, c-Caspase-9, and Bax protein increased, and the expression of Bcl-2 protein decreased,the difference being statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusions Luteolin combined with down-regulation of miR-425-5p could inhibit the growth, invasion and migration of cervical cancer cells, and induce cell apoptosis. The mechanism of action may be related to the inhibition of the activation of Akt signaling pathway. |
