Effects of formononetin on proliferation and apoptosis of human gastric cancer MKN-45 cells

DONG Chencheng; ZHONG Li; ZHANG Guangyu; WANG Zhenran; RAN Fulin; CHEN Xiao

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-266X.2017.07.002

Abstract：Objective To observe the effects of formononetin on the proliferation and apoptosis of human gastric cancer MKN-45 cells and its possible mechanism.Methods The human gastric cancer MKN-45 cells in the logarithmic growth phase were divided into groups A,B,C and the control group.Cells in the groups A,B and C were cultured and the culture medium was added with 20,40 and 80 μg/mL of formononetin,respectively.The control group was not treated.The cell proliferation of MKN-45 cells was detected by MTT assay at 24,48 and 72 h of formononetin treatment,and the growth inhibitory rate of MKN-45 cells was assessed.The effect of formononetin on morphological changes was evaluated using DAPI staining.The intracellular phosphorylated IκB (p-IκB) and NF-κB p65 protein expression was measured by Western blotting.Results MKN-45 cell proliferation was inhibited after being treated by formononetin with a time-and dose-dependent manner (all P ＜ 0.05).The apoptosis rates of groups A,B,C and the control group after 72-hour treatment were 25.62％ ± 2.57％,48.27％ ± 3.18 ％,72.51％ ± 4.35％ and 1.07％ ± 0.54％,respectively (all P ＜ 0.05).The expression of p-IκB and NF-κB p65 protein in cells of groups A,B and C was significantly higher than that of the control group at 48 h after administration with a dose-dependent manner (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Formononetin inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis of MKN-45 cells,and the possible mechanism may be related to activation of NF-κB signaling pathway.