Apatinib enhances the radiosensitivity of the esophageal cancer cell line KYSE-150 by inducing apoptosis and cell cycle redistribution

作者：Hu, Lijun; Sun, Fei; Sun, Zhiqiang; Ni, Xinchu; Wang, Jian; Wang, Jianlin; Zhou, Mengyun; Feng, Yue; Kong, Ze; Hua, Qiu; Yu, Jingping^*

来源：Oncology Letters, 2019, 17(2): 1609-1616.

DOI：10.3892/ol.2018.9803

• esophageal cancer
• radiosensitivity
• apatinib
• apoptosis
• cell cycle

To determine the radiosensitizing effect of apatinib on esophageal cancer cells, and to preliminarily investigate the underlying mechanism, KYSE-150 cells were treated with apatinib, x-ray or apatinib combined with x-ray, and compared with a blank control. It was observed that apatinib significantly inhibited vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion and the proliferation of KYSE-150 cells in a dose-dependent manner. As the concentration of apatinib increased, the radiobiological parameters inactivation dose (D-0), quasi domain does (D-q) and survival fraction (SF2) of KYSE-150 cells decreased, while the sensitization enhancement ratio SERD0 increased. The rate of apoptosis in cells treated with apatinib and x-ray was markedly higher compared with those of the blank control, x-ray and apatinib alone groups (P<0.05). The proportion of cells in the G2/M phase was significantly increased in the apatinib, x-ray and combination groups compared with the blank control group (P<0.05). Compared with the control and x-ray groups, combination treatment did not significantly alter the expression level of polyADP-ribose polymerase (PARP), although it significantly increased the expression of cleaved-PARP (P<0.05). Moreover, the expression of cell serine/threonine-protein kinase-2 (CHK2) was downregulated (P<0.05), whilst expression of the phosphorylated form, pCHK2, was significantly increased (P<0.05) in the combination group when compared with the control and x-ray groups. In conclusion, the present study suggested that apatinib increases the radiosensitivity of KYSE-150 esophageal cancer cells by inhibiting VEGF secretion and cell proliferation, and promoting apoptosis and cell cycle redistribution.

• 出版日期2019-2
• 单位南京医科大学