Propofol Suppresses Cell Progression by Inhibiting CCL18 Expression in Hepatoblastoma

Hua Zhang; Pingling Lin; Lei Fu; Zhijun Li; Yan Ding

doi:10.1155/2021/6880473

Propofol Suppresses Cell Progression by Inhibiting CCL18 Expression in Hepatoblastoma

J Oncol. 2021 Jul 26:2021:6880473. doi: 10.1155/2021/6880473. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Hua Zhang¹, Pingling Lin², Lei Fu³, Zhijun Li⁴, Yan Ding⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacy, Yantaishan Hospital, Yantai 264000, China.
² Department of Pediatrics (I), Jiyang People's Hospital, Jinan 251400, China.
³ PIVAS, Qingdao Central Hospital Affiliated to Qingdao University, Qingdao 266042, China.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, Zhangqiu District People's Hospital, Jinan 250200, China.
⁵ Department of Pediatric Ward (II), Rizhao People's Hospital, Rizhao 276800, China.

Abstract

Background: Propofol is an anesthetic commonly used clinically and has been found to have antitumor activity in various cancers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of propofol in hepatoblastoma (HB).

Methods: CCK-8 and transwell were used to measure cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in HB cells. Cell apoptosis rate was measured by FCM. The expression of CCL18 in HB tissues and cells was detected by RT-qPCR. Western blotting was used to explore the protein expression of CCK18- and PI3K/AKT-related proteins.

Results: The expression of CCL18 in HB tissues and cells was overexpressed compared with control groups. CCL18 knockdown was found to notably block cell proliferation and progression, while enhancing cell apoptosis in HuH-6 and HepT1 cells. Furthermore, propofol suppressed the proliferation of HB cells in a dose-dependent manner. According to the results, we chose 5 μg/mL of propofol-treated cells for 48 hours as the subsequent experimental conditions. We found that propofol (5 μg/mL, 48 h) significantly blocked cell migration and invasion, but induced cell apoptosis in HuH-6 and HepT1 cells. In addition, CCK18 overexpression facilitated cell progression in HB cells, while propofol dramatically suppressed the effect of CCK18. Besides that, propofol suppressed the PI3K/AKT pathway.

Conclusion: Propofol suppressed the development of HB cells by inhibiting CCK18 expression and the PI3K/AKT pathway. Therefore, we infer that propofol plays a role in the treatment of HB.