Propofol suppresses proliferation, migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells via regulating miR-29/MMP-2 axis

Y.-J. Ni, J. Lu, H.-M. Zhou

Department of Anesthesiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing College, Zhejiang, Jiaxing, China. qdbmkop@sina.com

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• Pharmacology

OBJECTIVE:  Propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol) is a commonly used intravenous anesthetic agent. Previous studies suggested that propofol might act as anti-tumor drug in various cancers, including gastric cancer. However, the underlying mechanism is still largely unknown.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: 1, 5, 10 and 20 μg/ml of propofol were used to treat gastric cancer cell MKN45 for 24, 48 or 72 hours. MTT assay was used to detect the proliferation. Transwell assay was employed to measure the invasion and migration with or without matrigel. The expression of miR-29a, 29b and 29c was assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Luciferase assay was introduced to confirm the relationship between miR-29 family member and MMP-2. Western blot was adopted to measure the expression of MMP-2 protein.

RESULTS: The proliferation, migration and invasion of gastric cancer cell MKN45 were gradually decreased after propofol treatment in time- and dose- dependent manners. MiR-29a, b and c were downregulated in MKN45 cells compared with normal gastric mucosa epithelial cell GES-1 and upregulated by propofol. Inhibition of miR-29a, b or c promoted cell proliferation, migration and invasion of MKN45 cells under propofol treatment. MMP-2 was a target and regulated by miR-29 family and propofol. MMP-2 silencing reversed the stimulative effects of miR-29 inhibitor.

CONCLUSIONS: Propofol inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion by upregulating miR-29a, miR-29b and miR-29c and downregulating MMP-2.

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