Effects of Monosialoganglioside-3 on Apoptosis and VEGF Expression in Human Cervical Cancer Cell Line HeLa

Objective To determine the effect of exogenous monosialoganglioside-3(GM3) on the proliferation, apoptosis and VEGF regulation in human cervical cancer cell line HeLa. Methods HeLa cells were treated with GM3 at different concentrations for 24h. MTT was used to detect cell proliferation and flow cytometry was applied to analyze cell apoptosis. RT-PCR was used to detect the expression level of VEGF mRNA and Western blot was used to detect the expression level of VEGF protein. Results (1) When GM3 concentrations were 2, 10, 50 and 250μmol/L, the inhibition rates of HeLa cells growth were 9.8%, 32.9%,50.7% and 78.6%. The IC₅₀ was 49.8μmol/L. (2) When GM3 concentrations were 10, 50 and 250μmol/L,HeLa cells apoptosis rates were (4.9±0.4)%, (15.1±0.3)% and (4.4±0.7)%. (3) Comparing with the control group, when GM3 concentrations were higher than 10 mol/L, the expression level of VEGF mRNA and protein in HeLa cells were significantly decreased (P<0.05). Conclusion Exogenous GM3 could inhibit the proliferation and promote the apoptosis of HeLa cells, and down-regulate the VEGF mRNA and protein expression levels in HeLa cells in a dose-dependent manner. This may be considered as two mechanisms of anti-tumor effect of GM3 by modulating cell apoptosis and angiogenesis.