Matrine induces apoptosis via targeting CCR7 and enhances the effectof anticancer drugs in non-small cell lung cancer invitro

摘要

This study mainly investigated the effects of matrine on cell apoptosis and theeffects of anticancer drugs in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines(A549 and LK2 cells). The results showed that matrine (≥10 μM) caused asignificant inhibition on cell viability and 10 and 100 μM matrine induced cellapoptosis via influencing p53, bax, casp3, and bcl-2 expressions in A549 cells.In addition, matrine significantly down-regulated C-C chemokine receptor type 7(CCR7) expression, and blocking the down-regulation of CCR7 by exogenouschemokine ligand 21 (CCL21) treatment alleviated matrine-caused effects ofapoptosis genes in A549 cells. The results were further validated in LK2 cellsthat matrine regulated apoptosis gene expressions, which were reversed by CCL21treatment. Furthermore, matrine enhances the effects of cisplatin,5-fluorouracil, and paclitaxel in A549 cells, and the anticancer effects exhibita dosage-dependent manner. In summary, matrine induced cell apoptosis andenhanced the effects of anticancer drugs in NSCLC cells; the mechanism might beassociated with the CCR7 signal.