Effect of chemotherapy with cisplatin and rapamycin on HeLa cells in vitro

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of combination of rapamycin (RPM) with cisplatin on the proliferation of cervical cancer HeLa cells in vitro, as well as the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). HeLa cells were treated with RPM and cisplatin, respectively or through combining them for 72 h. There were four groups in this experiment, namely, RPM, cisplatin, RPM combined with cisplatin, and control group (culture medium only). The expression of mRNA and the protein of genes HIF-1α and VEGF were detected using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot respectively. A down-regulation of the mRNA and protein expression of HIF-1α and VEGF was observed in HeLa cells corresponding to the rapamycin group, cisplatin group, and RPM combined with cisplatin group compared with the control group (p < 0.05). The mRNA and protein expression of HIF-1α and VEGF were significantly down-regulated in the combined group. No significant difference was found between the RPM group and cisplatin group (p < 0.05). The mRNA and protein expression of both HIF-1α and VEGF were significantly down-regulated by the combination of RPM with cisplatin Key words: HeLa cells, Rapamycin, cisplatin, hypoxia-inducible factor-1α, vascular endothelial growth factor.