Effect of bone morphogenetic protein-4 on proliferation, apoptosis and migration of thyroid cancer cells and its mechanism

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effects of bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4) on the proliferation, apoptosis and migration of thyroid cancer cells through extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2)/p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) signaling pathway. Methods Thyroid papillary carcinoma (TPC)-1 cells (thyroid papillary carcinoma cells) were randomly divided into blank control group (BC), negative control group (NC) and interference group (KD). Cells in BC group were not transfected. NC group cells were transfected with negative control plasmids. KD group cells were transfected with the silenced BMP-4 plasmid. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to determine the BMP-4 mRNA levels. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) was used to measure cell proliferation. Flow cytometry was used to determine cell apoptosis. Transwell chamber and scratch assay was used to determine cell migration capacity. The levels of ERK1/2, phosphorylated ERK1/2 (p-ERK1/2), p38MAPK and p-p38MAPK protein were determined by Western blotting. Results The level of BMP-4 mRNA in TPC-1 cells (5.86±0.42) was higher than that in HT-ori3 cells (normal thyroid cells) (1.00±0.03, t=30.537, P 0.05). Conclusion Silencing BMP-4 can inhibit the proliferation and migration of thyroid cancer cells and promote apoptosis, which may be related to down-regulation of ERK1/2/p38MAPK signaling pathway. Key words: Bone morphogenetic protein-4; Extracellular regulated protein kinase; p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase; Thyroid cancer; Proliferation; Apoptosis; Migration