Effect of phillygenin on the malignant biological behavior of cervical cancer cells by regulating the HIF-1α/VEGF signaling pathway
Objective To investigate whether phillygenin(PHI)affects the malignant biological behavior of cervical cancer cells by regulating the hypoxia inducible factor-1α(HIF-1α)/vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)signaling pathway.Methods MTT was applied to detect the proliferation and IC50 of HeLa cells after treating with different concentra-tions of PHI for 24 hours.HeLa cells were separated into four groups:the conventional cultured HeLa cells were labeled as the Control group,the HeLa cells treated with 50 μmol/mL PHI were labeled as the 50PHI group,the HeLa cells treated with 100 μmol/mL PHI were labeled as the 100PHI group,and the HeLa cells treated with 100 μmol/mL PHI+10 μmol/L DMOG(HIF-1α/VEGF pathway activator)were labeled as the 100PHI+DMOG group.Cell cloning was applied to detect cell prolif-eration and colony formation ability.Transwell experiments and cell flow cytometry were applied to detect the migration,invasion,and apoptosis rate of HeLa cells.Western blot experiments were applied to detect the expression of signaling path-way related proteins HIF-1α,VEGF,COX-2,E-cadherin,and N-cadherin.HeLa cells were used to construct a cervical cancer SD rat model,and the mass and volume of cervical cancer tumors were recorded.Immunohistochemistry was applied to detect the expression of HIF-1α and VEGF proteins.Results Compared with the Control group,the cell proliferation,migration,colony forming ability,invasion,HIF-1α,VEGF,COX-2,and N-cadherin protein expression reduced in the 50PHI and 100PHI groups(P<0.05),the apoptosis and E-cadherin protein expression increased(P<0.05).Compared with the 100PHI group,the cell proliferation,migration,colony forming ability,invasion,HIF-1α,VEGF,COX-2,and N-cadherin protein expression in-creased in the 100PHI+DMOG group(P<0.05),the cell apoptosis and E-cadherin protein expression reduced(P<0.05).Com-pared with the control group,the tumor mass,volume,HIF-1α positive rate,and VEGF positive rate in the PHI group reduced(P<0.05).Conclusion PHI can inhibit the malignant biological behavior of cervical cancer cells,and its mechanism may be achieved by regulating the HIF-1α/VEGF signaling pathway.