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[Metabotropic glutamate receptor 8 activation promotes the apoptosis of lung carcinoma A549 cells in vitro.] [Article in Chinese]

LI Tian-Jiao, HUANG Yan-Hong, CHEN Xi, ZHOU Zho, LUO Si-Wei, FENG Dan-Dan, HAN Jian-Zhong, LUO Zi-Qiang

Grade 2011 of Clinical Medicine； Department of Physiology； Grade 2012 of Clinical Medicine, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha 410013, China

Abstract

This study aims to detect the expression of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) in lung carcinoma A549 cells, and to investigate the effects of mGluR8 and mGluR4 activation on the growth of A549 cells in vitro. The mRNA expression levels of the 8 subtypes of mGluRs in A549 cells were determined by real-time PCR. Immunohistochemistry was used to analyze the protein
expression of mGluR4 and mGluR8 in A549 cells and lung tissue sections obtained from lung adenocarcinoma patients. To observe the effects of mGluR8 and mGluR4 activation on the growth of A549 cells, the cultured cells were treated with (S)-3,4-DCPG (an agonist of mGluR8) and VU0155041 (an agonist of mGluR4), respectively, and then the cell viability was analyzed by CCK-8 kit, the percentage of DNA synthesis was detected by EdU incorporation, and the apoptosis of the cells was measured by hoechst 33258 staining and flow cytometry. The results showed that there were low expressions of mGluR1, mGluR5, mGluR6, mGluR7 mRNA, no expression of mGluR2 and mGluR3 mRNA, and high expressions of mGluR8 and mGluR4 mRNA in A549 cells. Accordingly, there were also mGluR4 and mGluR8 protein expressions in the A549 cells and the lung adenocarcinoma tissue sections. VU0155041 had no effect on the growth of A549 cells, but (S)-3,4-DCPG significantly decreased the cells’ growth in a dose-dependent manner and
increased the apoptosis of the cells. The results revealed a role of mGluR8 in the growth and apoptosis of A549 cells and suggested a potential target for clinical treatment of lung cancer.

Key words: A549; metabotropic glutamate receptors 8; apoptosis

Received: 2015-02-06　　Accepted: 2015-07-02

Corresponding author: 罗自强　　E-mail: luozq1962@163.com

Citing This Article：

LI Tian-Jiao, HUANG Yan-Hong, CHEN Xi, ZHOU Zho, LUO Si-Wei, FENG Dan-Dan, HAN Jian-Zhong, LUO Zi-Qiang. [Metabotropic glutamate receptor 8 activation promotes the apoptosis of lung carcinoma A549 cells in vitro.] [Article in Chinese]. Acta Physiol Sin 2015; 67 (5): 513-520 (in Chinese with English abstract).