Nimesulide inhibits the proliferation of HepG2 by up-regulation of Smad4

OBJECTIVES: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is receiving increased attention. This study was designed to investigate the effect of selective Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor, nimesulide, on the expression of Smad4 in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2. MATERIALS AND METHODS: HepG2 cells were incubated in various concentrations of nimesulide (25, 50, 100, 200, 400 μmol/L) to detect the effect of proliferation by MTS. The apoptosis of HepG2 was determined by TUNEL; fluorescence microscope was used to observe the expression of Smad4. RESULTS: The result showed that nimesulide inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cell in a concentrations-dependent manner, and promoted the karyopyknosis and fragmentation of HepG2 cell nucleus, induced its apoptosis, the number of fluorescence labeling of Smad4 in Nimesulide group was higher than control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Nimesulide inhibits the proliferation and promotes apoptosis of HepG2 by up-regulation of Smad4 in HepG2.