Pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative effects of 3,3'-diindolylmethane in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells via downregulation of telomerase activity

  • Authors:
    • Fen Li
    • Yong Xu
    • Chen Chen
    • Shi‑Ming Chen
    • Bo‑Kui Xiao
    • Ze‑Zhang Tao
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  • Published online on: May 25, 2015     https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2015.3836
  • Pages: 3815-3820
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Abstract

The pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative effects of 3,3'-diindolylmethane (DIM) in various tumor cell types have been widely investigated. The underlying mechanisms were suggested to include cell cycle arrest, cell signaling inhibition and downregulation of the androgen receptor. The present study demonstrated that DIM induced apoptosis and inhibited proliferation in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells by downregulating the activity of telomerase. The nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line 5‑8F was selected for this purpose. A cell counting kit‑8 assay and flow cytometry were performed to detect apoptosis and proliferation of 5‑8F cells, respectively, which revealed the pro‑apoptotic and anti‑proliferative effects of DIM. Telomerase activity was detected using a telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay, which revealed that the telomerase activity was inhibited by DIM in a dose‑dependent manner. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the mRNA expression levels of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and human telomerase RNA (hTR), and western blot analysis was used to detect the protein expression of hTERT. The results showed that the mRNA and protein expression of hTERT were downregulated in 5‑8F cells following treatment with DIM; however, the mRNA expression of hTR remained unchanged, suggesting that hTERT was the target of DIM. To further identify the target, the length of telomeres was continually measured using a telomere length detection kit, revealing that the telomeres were shortened by DIM in an concentration‑dependent manner. The present study confirmed that DIM had pro‑apoptotic and anti‑proliferative effects in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells by regulating telomerase.
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September-2015
Volume 12 Issue 3

Print ISSN: 1791-2997
Online ISSN:1791-3004

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Spandidos Publications style
Li F, Xu Y, Chen C, Chen SM, Xiao BK and Tao ZZ: Pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative effects of 3,3'-diindolylmethane in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells via downregulation of telomerase activity. Mol Med Rep 12: 3815-3820, 2015
APA
Li, F., Xu, Y., Chen, C., Chen, S., Xiao, B., & Tao, Z. (2015). Pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative effects of 3,3'-diindolylmethane in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells via downregulation of telomerase activity. Molecular Medicine Reports, 12, 3815-3820. https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2015.3836
MLA
Li, F., Xu, Y., Chen, C., Chen, S., Xiao, B., Tao, Z."Pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative effects of 3,3'-diindolylmethane in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells via downregulation of telomerase activity". Molecular Medicine Reports 12.3 (2015): 3815-3820.
Chicago
Li, F., Xu, Y., Chen, C., Chen, S., Xiao, B., Tao, Z."Pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative effects of 3,3'-diindolylmethane in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells via downregulation of telomerase activity". Molecular Medicine Reports 12, no. 3 (2015): 3815-3820. https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2015.3836