Roles of Astragalus polysaccharides in coculture system of breast cancer cells and macrophages in vitro

ZHOU Lijing; WANG Zhixue; LONG Tingting; ZHOU Xing; BAO Yixi

doi:10.13431/j.cnki.immunol.j.20170084

Abstract：This study was designed to investigate the effects of Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) on the proliferation,apoptosis,migration and invasion of breast cancer cells and on the activation of macrophages in coculture system.Human breast cancer cell MDA-MB-231(231) were divided into 5 groups:231,231 +APS,231 + ADM,231 +THP-1 and 231 +THP-1 +APS.The cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 assay;the cycle and apoptosis of MDA-MB-231 cells were evaluated by flow cytometry;transwell migration and invasion assay were used to investigate the migration and invasion ability of 231 cells.The effect of APS on macrophages was evaluated by the level of nitric oxide (NO) and cytokines which were detected by Greiss reaction and ELISA assays.Data showed that APS in different concentrations had no obvious effect on the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells and MCF-7 cells in vitro (P＞0.05),but APS promoted the proliferation of THP-1 at 300 μg/ml (P＜0.05).APS in coculture system obviously inhibited the proliferation,migration and invasion of 231 cells and accelerated its apoptosis,as compared with 231 cells cultured alone and 231 cells in coculture condition without APS (P＜0.05).Additionally,APS increased the secretion of nitric oxide,IL-1β,IL-6 and TNF-α (P＜0.05) of macrophages,but not IL-12 (P＞0.05).In conclusion,APS doesn't have directly obvious effects on breast cancer cell lines in vitro;the inhibition effects of APS on breast cancer cells in coculture system may be related to NO and cytokines secretion from activated macrophages.