EXAMINING THE EXPRESSION CHANGES OF GENES RELATED TO INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES IL-6 AND IL-4 IN CACO-2 CELL LINE TREATED WITH GLYCYRRHIZIN
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Abstract
Colorectal cancer is one of the most common types of fatal cancer worldwide. In recent years, extensive studies have been conducted on medicinal plants for their anti-cancer effects, including licorice. The aim of this research was to investigate the expression changes of genes related to inflammatory cytokine IL-6 and IL-4 in CaCO-2 cell line treated with licorice extract (glyceryzin). Licorice plants were collected from different regions and then their dry roots were ground into powder and finally extracted. CaCO2 cell line was purchased from Pasteur Institute of Iran and DMEM medium was used for cultivation. Cells were cultured with different concentrations of the extract (determined by Bradford) and after 24 hours, the lethal effects of licorice extract (glycyrrhizin) were investigated by MTT colorimetric method. Then the cells were cultured with a concentration of 59.90 μg/mL and the RNA of the cells was extracted using the kit. After cDNA synthesis, the expression of IL-4 and IL-6 genes compared to control samples was evaluated by Real Time PCR technique. Licorice extract (glycyrrhizin) significantly (P<0.05) decreased the viability of treated cancer cells compared to untreated cells, which was concentration-dependent. The concentration of IC50, equivalent to 59.90 µg/mL, was observed. The relative expression of IL-4 and IL-6 cytokine genes in the samples treated with glycyrrhizin extract was reduced by 2.097 and 2.094 times, respectively, compared to untreated cells. Licorice extract (glycyrrhizin) has anti-cancer properties against CaCO-2 cells and it can probably be used as an anti-cancer drug or agent with clinical studies. Key words: CaCO2 cell line, licorice extract (glycyrrhizin), IL-4 gene, IL-6 gene.
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