Open AccessNelfinavir restricts A549 cell growth by inhibiting STAT3 signaling
Author(s) -
Fenghua He,
Gang Wang,
ZhengQing Xu,
Zhihui Huang
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of international medical research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.421
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1473-2300
pISSN - 0300-0605
DOI - 10.1177/03000605211014989
Subject(s) - a549 cell , apoptosis , propidium iodide , stat3 , cell growth , mtt assay , nelfinavir , blot , cancer research , flow cytometry , annexin , cell , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , chemistry , biology , programmed cell death , immunology , biochemistry , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , antiretroviral therapy , viral load , gene
Objective To investigate the anticancer effect of nelfinavir (NFV) on human A549 cells.Methods The inhibitory effects of NFV on the proliferation of human A549 cells were assessed using a MTT assay. Apoptotic cells were observed by fluorescence microscopy following Hoechst 33342 staining. Apoptosis of A549 cells was assessed using Annexin-V/propidium iodide staining and flow cytometry. Expression levels of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and p-STAT3 were measured by western blotting. STAT3 RNA silencing was used to investigate the pro-apoptotic mechanism of NFV in A549 cells.Results NFV dose-dependently suppressed proliferation of human A549 cells and induced significant apoptosis. Western blotting showed that the antitumor function of NFV might be mediated by STAT3 inhibition. A549 cell apoptosis in response to 20 µM NFV was significantly increased following STAT3 silencing. NFV significantly impeded the expression of the anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-xL and Bcl-2, by increased the expression of the pro-apoptotic protein Cle-PARP.Conclusions Our findings highlight STAT3 as a promising therapeutic target. NFV is a novel anti-cancer drug for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer.