Effects Of Ursolic Acid Combined With Paclitaxel On Proliferation And Migration Of Gastric Cancer Cells

Background and aim:Ursolic acid is a triterpenoid compound derived from the natural plants and has biological effects such as anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidation.Studies have shown that ursolic acid can inhibit the growth of a variety of tumor cells and has potential anti-tumor effect.As a key drug in tumor chemotherapy in recent years,Paclitaxel is widely used in the treatment of malignant solid tumors such as gastric cancer and colon cancer.But it is showed different effect in individuals.Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in China.Due to the lack of effective treatment,the survival time of patients with advanced gastric cancer is shorter and the mortality is higher.In order to look for a more effective chemotherapy protocols,we proposed that combinate of ursolic acid and paclitaxel acting on gastric cancer cell lines,and to survey their effects on tumor cell biology behavior such as invasiveness and migration capability.Then we can evaluate their potential value in the treatment of gastric cancer.Methods:Gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901 and BGC-823 cells are inoculated in RPMI 1640 medium which containing 10% fetal bovine serum.After 24 hours of incubation,the cells are treated alone or both with ursolic acid(UA)and paclitaxel(PTX)for 48 hours.MTT and CCK-8 kits are used to detect the proliferation ability of cells,and transwell migration and invasion assay are applyed to evaluate migration and invasion ability of cells.The expression of related pathway proteins are detected with immunoblotting method.Results:Both MTT and CCK-8 experiments showed that the absorbance values of SGC-7901 and BGC-823 cells treated with UA and PTX were significantly lower than those in the control group at 24 h,48h and 72 h with concentration and time dependence.The cell proliferation inhibition rate of the combined drug group was significantly higher than that of other groups(P < 0.01).Transwell migration and invasion experiments showed that SGC-7901 and BGC-823 cells treated with UA and PTX were significantly less than the control groups.The cell migration inhibition rate of the combined drug group was significantly higher than that of other group(P < 0.05).After treated with comination UA with PTX,the expression level of cox-2,PCNA,bcl-2 were significantly reduced and the expression of Bax was up-regulated in SGC-7901 and BGC-823 cells(P < 0.05).Conclusion: Ursolic acid combined with paclitaxel can significantly inhibit the proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cells,which may be related to inhibition of COX-2 and Bcl-2 expression.