• Department of General Surgery,The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150086,Heilongjiang Province,China;
ZHANG Xinchen, Email: marschenxin@hotmail.com
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Objective  To investigate the effects and mechanism of 3-methyladenine (3-MA, an autophagy inhib-itor) on the apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cell line SMMC7721 induced by 5-fluorouracil (5-FU).
Methods  The autophagy was observed using fluorescent microscope by monodansyicadaverin (MDC) staining. The viability of SMMC-7721 cell induced by 5-FU was measured using CCK8 assay before and after autophagy inhibited by 3-MA, meanwhile the apoptosis of SMMC7721 cell was determined via AnnexinⅤ/PI assay. The light chain 3 protein (LC3, the autophagy
specific protein) and caspase-3, PARP protein were detected by Western blot.
Results  The autophagy of SMMC7721 cell could be induced by 5-FU after treatment for 48 h, the cell survival rate was (60.73±2.65)%, and the apoptosis rate was (40.42±2.34)%. Compared with the group of 5-FU treatment, the survival rate of SMMC7721 cell in the combination of 5-FU and 3-MA after treatment for 48 h decreased to (42.31±1.32)% (P<0.01), and the apoptosis rate increased to (60.92±2.99)% (P<0.01), meanwhile the expressions of LC3-Ⅱ, activation fragment of caspase-3, and cleavage frag-ment of PARP significantly increased (P<0.01).
Conclusions  Autophagy is a protective phenomenon during the SMMC7721 cell line apoptosis induced by 5-FU, and autophagy inhibition may enhance the sensitivity of SMMC7721 cell line to 5-FU treatment, which is probably associated with the activation of caspase-3 and cleavage of PARP. Therefore, autophagy inhibition could be a promising strategy for adjuvant chemotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Citation: DAI Jingyou,YANG Shumeng,ZHANG Xinchen,WU Dequan,YANG Weiliang,.. Influence of Autophagy inhibition on 5-Fluorouracil-Induced Apoptosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Its Mechanism. CHINESE JOURNAL OF BASES AND CLINICS IN GENERAL SURGERY, 2013, 20(8): 872-877. doi: Copy