Selective inhibition of cell growth by activin in SNU-16 cells

AIM: To investigate whether activin regulates the cell proliferation of human gastric cancer cell line SNU-16 through the mRNA changes in activin receptors, Smads and p21CIP1/WAF1. METHODS: The human gastric cancer cell lines were cultured, RNAs were purifi ed, and RT-PCRs were carried out with specifically designed primer for each gene. Among them, the two cell lines SNU-5 and SNU-16 were cultured with activin A for 24, 48 and 72 h. The cell proliferation was measured by MTT assay. For SNU-16, changes in ActRIA, ActRIB, ActRIIA, ActRIIB, Smad2, Smad4, Smad7, and p21CIP1/WAF1 mRNAs were detected with RT-PCR after the cells were cultured with activin A for 24, 48 and 72 h. RESULTS: The proliferation of SNU-16 cells was down regulated by activin A whereas other cells showed no change. Basal level of inhibin/activin subunits, activin receptors, Smads, and p21CIP1/WAF1 except for activin βB mRNAs was observed to have differential expression patterns in the human gastric cancer cell lines, AGS