Aspirin Inhibits ErbB2 To Induce Apoptosis Of Cervical Cancer Cells

The use of aspirin is associated with a lower risk of many cancer types.However,there are little reports in cervical cancer.The protooncogene ErbB2 is overexpressed in cervical cancer,and considered as a therapeutic target.In the present study,we investigated whether aspirin had therapeutic value in cervical cancer and examined the effects of aspirin on the amplification and expression of ErbB2.To investigate the effects of aspirin on apoptosis and proliferation in cervical cancer cell line HeLa in vitro,we tested apoptosis by Hochest 33258 staining and Annexin V-FITC/PI method;MTT and clone formation assay were used to detect proliferation.Induction of apoptosis and inhibition of cell proliferation were observed in HeLa cells after incubated with aspirin. Western blot and Immunocytochemical staining showed that aspirin induced a concentration and timedependent reduction of ErbB2 expression that was due to proteosome-mediated degradation of the protein.To further investigate the underlying mechanisms,we investigated the ErbB2 downstream cell survival signaling pathways and the expression of anti-apoptosis gene Bcl-2.We found that aspirin inhibited the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase(ERK) and AKT,and Bcl-2 expression.These data reveal that aspirin significantly induces apoptosis and inhibits the proliferation of HeLa cell maybe via inhibiting ErbB2 downstream cell survival signaling pathways. These results present here indicate aspirin maybe as a novel gene therapeutic agent for human cervical cancer.In addition,more researches are needed to elucidate the clinical potential of aspirin in the treatment of cervical cancer.