Abstract:
Objective To explore the effect of ERK and Akt inhibition on trichostatin A (TSA) -induced apoptosis of ovarian carcinoma cells.
Methods OVCAR-3 cells were divided into four groups as follows: control group, TSA treatment group, TSA + PD98059 group, and TSA + Y294002. The cells were pretreated with PD98059 or Y294002 for 1 h, and then treated with TSA for 24 h. The cell viability was assayed via MTT. The apoptotic-related proteins were detected by Western blot. The activities of the caspases were determined using the caspase assay kits according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Results Compared with that of the control groups, the cell viability decreased in the TSA treatment group. The pretreatment with PD98059 or Y294002 further decreased the cell viability. The result of the Western blot indicated that the TSA treatment increased the expression of cytochrome C and P53 and the expression of caspase-8, caspase-9, and caspase-3. The inhibition of Akt promoted the TSA-induced apoptosis and the activation of apoptosis-related proteins and caspases. However, the inhibition of ERK did not yield the same results.
Conclusion TSA can induce the apoptosis of OVCAR-3 cells by increasing the protein expression of cytochrome C and P53 and promoting the activation of caspase-8, caspase-9, and caspase-3. Moreover, TSA enhanced the mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathways. The inhibition of Akt may increase the apoptotic effect of TSA through the biological mechanisms mentioned above.