Antiª²tumor effects of Topotecan on primary cultured human esophagus cancer cells

    JIANG Tao, CHENG Qingª²Shu, ZHANG Tao, LI Xiaoª²Fei, ZHU Yiª²Fang

    Department of Thoracic Surgery , Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi¬ðan 710038, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To study the effect of Topotecan on the proliferation and apoptosis of primary cultured esophagus cancer cells and its possible mechanism. METHODS: Primary cultured esophagus cells were treated with topotecan of different concentrations for 48 h. MTT assay was used to detect the viability of cells. Morphological changes of apoptotic cells were studied by acridine orange staining and the apoptotic rates were detected by flow cytometer. Caspaseª²3 activity was measured by colorimetric assay. RESULTS: After treatment with topotecan for 48 h, the cell proliferation was significantly inhibited in a doseª²dependent manner. Typical morphological changes of apoptotic cells could be detected by acridine orange staining in cells treated with topotecan with an apoptotic rate of (33ª±4¡À6ª±8)% but few apoptotic cells could be detected in cells without topotecan incubation. Topotecan markedly increased the caspaseª²3 activity of esophagus cancer cells after treatment for 48 h. CONCLUSION: Topotecan can inhibit the proliferation of primary cultured esophagus cancer cells and induce apoptosis through the activation of caspaseª²3. ......