Cyclooxygenase-2 level and culture conditions influence NS398-induced apoptosis and caspase activation in lung cancer cells

Oncology Reports
H C Chang, C F Weng

Abstract

Cyclooxygenases (COXs) catalyze the synthesis of prostaglandins (PGs) from arachidonic acid. Overexpression of COX-2 is frequently found in human cancers and is suggested to play an important role in tumorigenesis. Recent studies indicated that COX-2 inhibitors exert potent anti-cancer effects on a number of cancers. Interestingly, some COX-2 inhibitors potently induce apoptosis, while other COX-2 inhibitors primarily induce growth inhibition. Therefore, there is a variability in the effects that different COX-2 inhibitors have on cancer cells. In this study, we demonstrated that induction of apoptosis of high COX-2-expressing A549 lung cancer cells by a specific COX-2 inhibitor NS398 was observed in cells cultured under serum-free condition. However, this drug induced G1 growth arrest rather than apoptosis in A549 cells maintained in 10% serum medium. Conversely, low COX-2-expressing H226 lung cancer cells were resistant to NS398-induced apoptosis under both serum-free and serum-containing conditions. Moreover, our results showed that NS398-induced apoptosis is associated with activation of caspase-3, a cysteine protease that plays a crucial role in the execution phase of apoptosis. These results suggest that the cytotoxic eff...Continue Reading

Citations

Nov 21, 2014·Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition·Toshiko Suzuki-YamamotoYoshitaka Takahashi

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