Effects Of Atorvastatin On The Proliferation And Invasion Abilities In Human Cholangiocarcinoma QBC939 Cells

Objective: To investigate the effects of Atorvastatin on the proliferation and invasion abilities in human cholangiocarcinoma QBC939 cells,and approach the possible mechanisms.Methods: The human cholangiocarcinoma QBC939 cell line was incubated with different concentrations of atorvastatin for 48h. MTT assay for cell growth and viability, AGE (agarose gel electrophoresis) analysis for cell apoptosis, Boyden chamber for invasion and motility assays, Semiquantitative RT-PCR to determine the mRNA expression of p27,MMP-9,RhoC.Results: Our results show that atorvastatin not only inhibits growth and proliferation of QBC939 cells, a time- and dose-dependent inhibition, but also induces apoptosis.And it suggest that atorvastatin-treated cells were less motile and invasive.Semiquantitative RT-PCR analysis shown that atorvastatin treatment reduced MMP-9 expression and upregulate the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27 in QBC939 cells. While RhoC was not significantly altered between the groups.Conclusions: Atorvastatin can inhibits proliferation and invasion of human cholangiocarcinoma QBC939 cells.Taken together, these data suggest that atorvastatin may be useful as an adjuvant therapy in cholangiocarcinoma.