Article
CHEN Boting, GUO Xiaoyan
Objective To investigate the effect of mollugin on the biological behavior of human hepatocellular carcinoma
cells and its mechanism. Methods HepG2 cells were divided into control group, low, medium and high concentration of
mollugin(40, 60 and 80 mmol/L) group, SN50(36 μmol/L) group and high concentration of mollugin(80 mmol/L)+
LPS(2.5 μmol/L) group. Cell counting kit-8 assay, clonal formation assay, flow cytometry and Transwell staining were used
to detect the proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and migration of HepG2 cells. Western blotting was used to detect the protein
expression in HepG2 cells. Results Compared with the control group, the cell proliferation inhibition rate, apoptosis rate,
rabbit anti-Caspase-3(Caspase-3), B-cell lymphoma 2 associated X protein(Bax), inhibitor of nuclear factor-κB (IκB-α)
and Bax/B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) in the low, medium, and high concentration of mollugin groups and SN50 group were
increased (P<0.05). The number of clone cells, invasion and migration cells, Bcl-2, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-
2, MMP-9, nuclear factor(NF)-κB and p-IκB-α were all decreased (P<0.05). Compared with the high concentration
of mollugin group, the cell proliferation inhibition rate, apoptosis rate, Caspase-3, Bax, IκB-α and Bax/Bcl-2 in high concentration of mollugin+LPS group were decreased, the number of cloned cells, invasive and migratory cells, and the
expression of MMP-2, MMP-9, NF-κB, Bcl-2 and p-IκB-α were all increased(P<0.05). Conclusion Mollugin may inhibit
cell proliferation, invasion, migration and promote apoptosis of HepG2 cells by inhibiting NF-κB pathway, which is expected
to become a targeted drug for the treatment of liver cancer.