Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor(LY294002) induces apoptosis of human nasopharyngeal carcinoma in vitro and in vivo

Background: To evaluate whether PI3K/Akt pathway could effect on Apoptosis and its mechanism in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells.

Methods: The activation of the PI3K/Akt and its effect on CNE-2Z cells in vivo and in vitro was investigated by MTT assay, flow cytometry, western blot, ELISA, terminal deoxyribonucleotide transferase-mediated nick-end labeling assays (TUNEL), and immunohistochemical analyses, using PI3K Inhibitor, LY294002.

Results: The results showed that LY294002 inhibited the phosphorylating of Akt (S473), cell proliferation, and induced Apoptosis in CNE-2Z cells. However, our experiment results also demonstrated that apoptosis-induced LY294002 was directly regulated by caspase-9 activation pathway.

Conclusion: These data suggested that PI3K Inhibitor, LY294002, induced Apoptosis by caspase-9 activation pathway and might be as a potentially useful target for therapeutic intervention in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients.