title: Notch1/3 and p53/p21 are a potential therapeutic target for APS-induced apoptosis in non-small cell lung carcinoma cell lines.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous studies have shown that Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) can be applied to anti-cancer. However, the mechanism by which APS mediate this effect is unclear. In the present study, APS-mediated NSCLC cell apoptosis was investigated through the regulation of the notch signaling pathway.
  
  
  METHODS
  The cell viability was detected by the CCK8 assay. The mRNA and protein expression of notch1/3 and tumor suppressors were analyzed by RT-PCR and western blotting, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mRNA and protein of notch1 and notch3 were significantly up-regulated in tumor tissues as compared to non-tumor adjacent tissues. Treatment of human NSCLC cells with APS induced cell death in a dose-and time-dependent manner by using CCK8 assay. The mRNA and protein expression of notch1 and notch3 were significantly lower in NSCLC cells with APS treatment than that in control group. Moreover, western blotting analysis showed that treatment of H460 cells with APS significantly increased the pro-apoptotic Bax and caspase 8 levels, decreased the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 level. Furthermore, p53, p21 and p16 were obviously up-regulated by APS treatment in H460 cell.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrated that APS-treated could inhibit proliferation and promote cell apoptosis, at least partially, through suppressing the expression of notch1 and notch3 and up-regulating the expression of tumor suppressors in H460 NSCLC cell lines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Jing-Xi
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Yi-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Chong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
keywords: Astragalus polysaccharide; non-small cell lung cancer; notch; tumor suppressors