Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) induces apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells

• Published in: International journal of clinical and experimental pathology Vol. 6; no. 2; pp. 281 - 289
• Main Authors: Sun, Si-Nan, Jia, Wei-Dong, Chen, Hao, Ma, Jin-Liang, Ge, Yong-Sheng, Yu, Ji-Hai, Li, Jian-Sheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States e-Century Publishing Corporation 01.01.2013
• Subjects: Apoptosis - drug effects; bcl-2-Associated X Protein - metabolism; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - pathology; Caspase 3 - metabolism; Cell Line, Transformed; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Movement - drug effects; Docosahexaenoic Acids - pharmacology; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Humans; Liver Neoplasms - pathology; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 - metabolism; Original; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 - metabolism; Signal Transduction - drug effects; Bcl-2; Docosahexaenoic (DHA); MMP-9; caspase-3
• ISSN: 1936-2625

The docosahexaenoic (DHA), a ω-3 fatty acid, could play a beneficial inhibition of the incidence and progress of a series of human diseases including cancer. It has been report that DHA is involved in cell apoptosis. Recent studies show that the signal transduction pathway links with bcl-2, bax, caspase-3 and MMP-9 molecules. Therefore, we tested the relationship between DHA and cell apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (Bel-7402 cells). We show here that DHA induces Bel-7402 cells apoptosis after pre-treating cells with DHA. DHA down-regulates the protein expression of Bcl-2 and Bim mRNA level, and up-regulates caspase-3 activity and Bax expression level. We also found that DHA inhibits Bel-7402 cells migration. Basic on our studies, DHA may play a role in tumor invasion and survival.