Open Access

Apatinib promotes apoptosis of the SMMC-7721 hepatocellular carcinoma cell line via the PI3K/Akt pathway

  • Authors:
    • Hua Zhang
    • Yumei Cao
    • Yuru Chen
    • Guangxi Li
    • Hanshu Yu
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: February 12, 2018     https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2018.8031
  • Pages: 5739-5743
  • Copyright: © Zhang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

The present study investigated the inhibitory effects of apatinib on the proliferation of the SMMC-7721 hepatocellular carcinoma cell line to explore the possible mechanism. The MTT assay was used to detect the inhibitory effects of the different concentrations of apatinib on the proliferation of SMMC-7721 cells. Annexin V/PI double staining was performed to investigate the effects of apatinib on the apoptosis of SMMC‑7721 cells. Expression of the apoptosis-related genes Bcl-2, Bax and caspase-9 after apatinib treatment was detected by reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and western blot analysis. Expression of the PI3K, p-PI3K, Akt and p-Akt proteins after apatinib treatment was detected using western blot analysis. The MTT results showed that apatinib inhibited the in vitro proliferation of SMMC-7721 cells. Annexin V/PI double staining showed that apatinib induced the apoptosis of SMMC‑7721 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Results of RT-qPCR and western blot analysis showed that apatinib was able to induce the expression of pro-apoptotic genes Bax and caspase-9 and inhibited the expression of anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2. In addition, the western blot analysis revealed that p-PI3K and p-Akt was significantly decreased following apatinib treatment, while no significant differences were found in the total protein levels of PI3K and Akt. The results of the present show that apatinib is capable of promoting the apoptosis of SMMC-7721 cells by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt signal transduction pathway, upregulating the expression of pro-apoptotic genes Bax and caspase-9, and downregulating the expression level of the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2.
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April-2018
Volume 15 Issue 4

Print ISSN: 1792-1074
Online ISSN:1792-1082

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Spandidos Publications style
Zhang H, Cao Y, Chen Y, Li G and Yu H: Apatinib promotes apoptosis of the SMMC-7721 hepatocellular carcinoma cell line via the PI3K/Akt pathway. Oncol Lett 15: 5739-5743, 2018
APA
Zhang, H., Cao, Y., Chen, Y., Li, G., & Yu, H. (2018). Apatinib promotes apoptosis of the SMMC-7721 hepatocellular carcinoma cell line via the PI3K/Akt pathway. Oncology Letters, 15, 5739-5743. https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2018.8031
MLA
Zhang, H., Cao, Y., Chen, Y., Li, G., Yu, H."Apatinib promotes apoptosis of the SMMC-7721 hepatocellular carcinoma cell line via the PI3K/Akt pathway". Oncology Letters 15.4 (2018): 5739-5743.
Chicago
Zhang, H., Cao, Y., Chen, Y., Li, G., Yu, H."Apatinib promotes apoptosis of the SMMC-7721 hepatocellular carcinoma cell line via the PI3K/Akt pathway". Oncology Letters 15, no. 4 (2018): 5739-5743. https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2018.8031