title: [Effects of niflumic acid on the proliferation of human hepatoma cells].
abstract: The purpose of this work was to investigate the effects of niflumic acid (NFA), a chloride channel blocker, on the proliferation of human hepatoma cell line (HHCC). Cell proliferation was analyzed by cell count and MTT assay. Cell cycle analysis was carried out by flow cytometry. [Ca(2+)](i) was determined by laser scanning confocal system. It was found that NFA decreased significantly the cell number and the MTT optical density (OD) of HHCC cells, and that the OD value was reversed after washout of NFA. Compared with control, NFA blocked cell cycle progression in G(1) phase. Extracellular application of NFA (100 micromol/L) induced a rapid decrease in [Ca(2+)](i). These findings demonstrate that blockage of chloride channels by NFA induces growth arrest of HHCC in G(1) phase, which may be due to the inhibition of Ca(2+)/CaM-dependent signaling pathways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, PR China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: Yun-Xin
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Yu-Zhen
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: An-Gang
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Shi-Sheng
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D002147:Calmodulin / Q000378:metabolism; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000473:pathology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D018118:Chloride Channels / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D009544:Niflumic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D002147:Calmodulin; D018118:Chloride Channels; D009544:Niflumic Acid; D002118:Calcium