Abstract:

Objective   To investigate the vitro inhibitory effect and mechanism of IFNα-2b combined with 5-fluorouracil on the hepatoma cell line HepG2. Methods   Human liver cancer cells were recovered and cultured, and then IFNα-2b or 5-FU alone and in  different concentrations of IFNα-2b combined with 5-FU were used for intervention. Inhibition ratios of growth of liver cancer cells which were cultured in vitro were detected by MTT. The effect of apoptosis of IFNα-2b and 5-FU on HepG2 cells was detected by HOECHST staining. The effect of the mutant p53 and c-myc proteins expression of IFNα-2b and 5-FU on cells were observed by immunocytochemistry and image analysis. Results   IFNα-2b or 5-FU inhibited the growth of the human liver cancer cell line HepG2 in a time dependent manner. Compared with IFNα-2b or 5-FU alone, IFNα-2b combined with 5-FU significantly inhibited the growth of HepG2 cells in a dose- and-time dependent manner. The combination of IFNα-2b and 5-FU significantly increased the apoptosis ratio in a dose-dependent manner, and the apoptosis rates were significantly higher than that of control group. The combination of IFNα-2b and 5-FU significantly downregulated the expression of mutant p53 and c-myc proteins compared with IFNα-2b or 5-FU alone. Conclusions   IFNα-2b combined with 5-FU can significantly inhibit the growth of the human liver cancer cell line HepG2 in a dose-and-time dependent manner, induce apoptosis of hepatoma cells in a dose dependent manner and downregulate expression of mutant p53 and c-myc proteins with a synergetic effect. These may be part of the anti-cancer mechanism of IFNα-2b combined with 5-FU.

Key words: Interferon α-2b; 5-fluorouracil; Hepatoma cell line HepG2; Protein p53; Protein c-myc