title: Gecko crude peptides induce apoptosis in human liver carcinoma cells in vitro and exert antitumor activity in a mouse ascites H22 xenograft model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the anti-tumor effects and mechanisms of gecko crude peptides (GCPs) in vitro and in vivo.
  
  
  METHODS
  3-(4,5)-Dimethylthiahiazo (-z-y1)-3,5-di-phenytetrazoliumromide (MTT) assay was applied to measure the effects of GCPs on the HepG2 cell viability. Fluorescence morphology was used to identify apoptotic cells. A xenograft H22 liver cancer model was established in Kunming mice. The tumor-bearing mice were treated with daily intraperitoneal injections of normal saline (NS group) or GCPs (80, 40 or 20 mg/kg) for 10 days, or once per two days with 2 mg/kg doxorubicin (ADR group; n = 10 each). Serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and interleukin (IL)-6 were quantified using ELISA assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  GCPs significantly inhibited the growth of HepG2 cells and induced typical apoptotic morphological features through increasing bcl-2/bax ratio in a dose- and time-dependent manner in vitro. The tumor weights of the ADR group, GCPs (H) group, GCPs (M) group, GCPs (L) group were smaller compared to the NS group. While the white blood cell count, thymus index, spleen index were higher in the high dose GCPs group than the NS group (P < 0.05), the VEGF expression in tumor tissue and serum TNF-α and IL-6 levels in the GCPs groups were lower than the NS group (P < 0.05).
authors.affiliation: Medical College, Henan University of Science & Technology, Luoyang 471003, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Jian-Gang
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Rui-Fang
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhao-Chu
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Leng-Xin
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*; D008116:Lizards / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D010455:Peptides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D010455:Peptides