Julie Gardener
New Member
The effect of cannnabinoid to gastric cancer
Objective Recently, Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component of marijuana, Anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), endogenous cannabinoids, have been known to inhibit the growth of malignant tumors. In this study, we investigated the effects of cannabinoids on gastric cancer cell lines. Methods First, we examined the expression of cannabinoid receptors(CB1, CB2) in 8 gastric cancer cell lines (MKN1, MKN28, MKN45, MKN74, NUGC3, HCG27, AZ521, KATOIII) with western blotting. Next, we examined the effects of cannabinoids on the viability of 4cell lines(MKN1, MKN45, NUGC3, AZ521), and analyzed the induction of apoptosis of AZ521 using Annexin V/propidium iodide(PI) method. Results All cell lines positively expressed CB1 receptor, whereas CB2 receptor was strongly expressed in MKN28, NUGC3,HCG27, AZ521, but only weakly in other cell lines. Then, we examined the cell viability, using AZ521 and NUGC3 (high expresser of CB2) and MKN1 and MKN45 (low expresser of CB2). In AZ521 and NUGC3, the proliferation was significantly enhanced by low dose AEA (from 1nM to 1µM), but strongly inhibited by 10µM AEA. Whereas the effects of AEA were much less in MKN1 and MKN45. AEA induced apoptosis of AZ521 at 10µM, but not at the concentration below 1µM. R(+)-methanandamide, CB1 selective agonist, showed almost similar results in proliferation and apoptosis. Conclusion Cannabinoids promote the growth of gastric cancer in nM orders while induce apoptosis at higher concentrations presumably through CB1 and CB2. Since certain cannabinoids are often used as the antimetic drugs during chemotherapy for cancer patients, the dose and medication should be appropriately determined based on this finding.Source: The effect of cannnabinoid to gastric cancer -- Miyato et al. 2006 (1): 958 -- AACR Meeting Abstracts
