[Effect of combined use of PDTC and paclitaxel on proliferation and invasion of human breast cancer cell line MCF-7].

This investigation was made with special reference to the effect of the combined use of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) inhibitor Pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate(PDTC) and Paclitaxel on the expression of Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-9) and its inhibitor TIMP-1, and on the proliferation and invasion of human breast cancer cell line MCF-7. The MCF-7 cells were treated with PDTC and Paclitaxel. The effect on proliferation was evaluated by MTT assay. The cell cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry. Western blot was used to determine the change of NF-kappaB p65, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 expression in MCF-7 cells after treatment. RT-PCR was used to detect NF-kappaB p65 mRNA expression. The invasion ability of MCF-7 cells was tested by the invasion, migration and cell adhesion assay. The cell growth was significantly slowed down and the cell cycle was arrested at G0/G1 phase after the combined treatment. The expression of NF-kappaB p65 and MMP-9 was down-regulated and the invasion ability of MCF-7 cells was decreased after the combined treatment. In conclusion,PDTC combined with paclitaxel effectively inhibited cell proliferation, induced cell cycle arrest, and decreased cell invasion ability of breast cancer MCF-7 cells. The mechanism may be associated with the inhibiting effect of PDTC on the NF-kappaB-related gene expression.