Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
3rd International Symposium on Euroasian Biodiversity, Minsk, Belarus, 5 - 08 Temmuz 2017, ss.323
Aim of the study: Metformin is an antidiabetic drug with anticancer properties. Cisplatin is
known as one of the most potent chemotherapeutics for treatment of various types of cancer.
In order to overcome cisplatin resistance and toxicity, the drug can be combined with other
chemotherapeutics that sensitize tumour cells to cisplatin. The ability of metformin to
potentiate cisplatin-mediated killing of cancer cells in vitro, makes it a plausible candidate for
combination with cisplatin-based therapy. The aim of this study is to examine the combined
effect of these drugs on mRNA expression of Hexokinase II gene participating in glycolysis
as well as cancer promotion.
Material and Methods: The effects of drugs on prostate cancer cell lines were analysed
using androgen dependent LNCaP and androgen independent PC3. LNCaP and PC3 cell
lines were cultured in RPMI-1640 medium and Ham’s F12 medium with containing 10% fetal
bovine serum (FBS), 1% L-glutamine and 1% penicillin-streptomycin solution, respectively.
Cells were treated with either metformin alone in the range of 1–10 mM, cisplatin alone or a
combination of these two drugs. Cytotoxicity of drugs were determined with Alamar Blue
Assay and IC50 was calculated. The effects of drugs on mRNA expressions were
determined by q-RT PCR technique and results were normalized with GAPDH as an internal
reference. Statistical analyses were performed by using GraphPad Prism version 6 statistical
software package for Windows. All results were expressed as means with their Standard
Deviation (SD). Unpaired, two-tailed ANOVA test and p<0.05 were chosen as the level for
significance.
Results: IC50 values of cisplatin were calculated for each cell line and found to be 17µM for
LNCaP and 30µM for PC3 cell line. Both alone or combination of drugs were inhibited the
proliferation of LNCaP and PC3 cells in a concentration dependent manner. Hexokinase II
mRNA expressions were significantly downregulated (p=0.05) in metformin/cisplatin treated
cells compared to control groups. This study suggest that metformin and/or cisplatin
combination may decrease the tumour promotion as well as glucose utilization of LNCaP and
PC3 cells by downregulating Hexokinase II gene expression. In addition to its
anticarcinogenic properties, adjuvant role of metformin may be investigated in combination
therapy for different cancer types.
Acknowledgements: This study is supported by Scientific and Technological Research
Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), Project No: 115Z695, Turkey.