Apoptosis-inducing effects of cetuximab combined with radiotherapy and hypothermia on human nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE cells
To investigate the apoptosis-inducing effects of cetuximab combined with radiotherapy and hypothermia in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE cells. CNE cells were treated with the radiation monotherapy, the radiation and hypothermia, the cetuximab and radiation, and the triple-combination treatment,...
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Published in | International journal of clinical and experimental medicine Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 2182 - 2189 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
e-Century Publishing Corporation
01.01.2015
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | To investigate the apoptosis-inducing effects of cetuximab combined with radiotherapy and hypothermia in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE cells. CNE cells were treated with the radiation monotherapy, the radiation and hypothermia, the cetuximab and radiation, and the triple-combination treatment, respectively. MTT assay was performed to assess cell proliferation following treatments. Hoechst 33258 staining and flow cytometry analyses were used to detect apoptotic process. Western blot analysis was performed to determine the protein expression levels. Cetuximab monotherapy inhibited the proliferation of CNE cells. Hyperthermia alone inhibited EGFR expression, and prolonged hypothermia treatment resulted in declining EGFR expression levels in these cells. Moreover, Hoechst 33258 staining showed obvious apoptotic morphologies in the treatment groups. Flow cytometry analysis showed that the interventions dramatically increased the apoptosis rates in CNE cells, with the most potent effect for the triple-combination treatment. Western blot analysis showed that, in the treatment groups, the expression levels of Bax were increased, while the expression levels of Bcl-2 were decreased, leading to significantly elevated Bax/Bcl-2 ratios in these groups, with the highest ratio for the triple-combination treatment. Cetuximab combined with radiotherapy and hypothermia treatments could efficiently inhibit the proliferation of CNE cells, and enhance the cellular apoptotic processes via regulating the expression levels of Bax and Bcl-2. Our findings provide experimental evidence for the application of the combination therapy in clinical treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1940-5901 1940-5901 |