Gamma-tocotrienol treatment increased peroxiredoxin-4 expression in HepG2 liver cancer cell line

BACKGROUND: To determine the antiproliferative effect of gamma-tocotrienol (GTT) treatment on differential protein expression in HepG2 cells. METHODS: HepG2 cells were treated with 70 μM GTT for 48 hours and differentially expressed protein spots were determined by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE), identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer (MS) and validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). RESULTS: GTT treatment on HepG2 cells showed a total of five differentially expressed proteins when compared to their respective untreated cells where three proteins were down-regulated and two proteins were up-regulated. One of these upregulated proteins was identified as peroxiredoxin-4 (Prx4). Validation by qRT-PCR however showed decreased expression of Prx4 mRNA in HepG2 cells following GTT treatment. CONCLUSIONS: GTT might directly influence the expression dynamics of peroxiredoxin-4 to control proliferation in liver cancer.