title: Mefloquine inhibits chondrocytic proliferation by arresting cell cycle in G2/M phase.
abstract: Mefloquine (MQ), an analog of chloroquine, exhibits a promising cytotoxic activity against carcinoma cell lines and for the treatment of glioblastoma patients. The present study demonstrates the effect of mefloquine on proliferation and cell cycle in chondrocytes. MTT assay and propidium iodide staining were used for the analysis of proliferation and cell cycle distribution, respectively. Western blot analysis was used to examine the expression levels of cyclin B1/cdc2, cdc25c, p21WAF1/CIP1 and p53. The results revealed that mefloquine inhibited the proliferation of chondrocytes and caused cell cycle arrests in the G2/M phase. The proliferation of chondrocytes was reduced to 27% at 40 μM concentration of mefloquine after 48 h. The population of chondrocytes in G2/M phase was found to be 15.7 and 48.4%, respectively at 10 and 40 μM concentration of mefloquine at 48 h following treatment. The expression of the cell cycle regulatory proteins including, cyclin B1/cdc2 and cdc25c was inhibited. On the other hand, mefloquine treatment promoted the expression of p21WAF1/CIP1 and p53 at 40 μM concentration after 48 h. Therefore, mefloquine inhibits proliferation and induces cell cycle arrest in chondrocytes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Qiong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Zeng-Gan
authors.initials: ZG
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Zuo-Qin
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Zheng-Jun
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D015153:Blotting, Western; D059447:Cell Cycle Checkpoints / Q000187:drug effects*; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D019902:Chondrocytes / Q000187:drug effects*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D008297:Male; D015767:Mefloquine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D015767:Mefloquine
keywords: Chondrocytes; cyclin B1; inhibition; mefloquine; proliferation