Objective: To observe the effect of bombesin noncytoskeleton form and intracellular free calcium ([Ca2+]i) concentration in PC-3 prostate cancer cell line.
Methods: Immunofluorescent histochemistry (IH) combined with laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) was used to examine the expression of cytokeratin (CK) in PC-3 cells treated with definite concentrations of BBS and observe its effect on cytoskeleton form. Fluo-3/AM fluorescence technique and LSCM were adopted to measure the [Ca2+]i concentration after different concentrations (10(-9), 10(-7) and 10(-5) mol/L) of BBS were added in PC-3 cells.
Results: BBS (10(-5) mol/L) stimulated the expression of CK in PC-3 cells and the formation of lamellipodium, and increased the [Ca2+]i concentration, with concentration dependence.
Conclusion: Definite concentrations of BBS could obviously enhance the [Ca2+] i concentration, CK expression and cytoskeleton morphology of PC-3 cells. The results provide a basis for further studies on the role of BBS in tumour researches as well as in intracellular signal transmission.