Abstract
Potassium channels are transmembrane proteins that selectively promote the infiltration of potassium ions. The significance of these channels for tumor biology has become obvious. However, the effects of potassium ions on the tumor or normal cells have seldom been studied. To address this problem, we studied the biological effects of L02 and HepG2 cells with ectogenous potassium ions. Cell proliferation, cell cycle, and apoptosis rate were analyzed. Our results indicated that potassium ions inhibited proliferation of L02 and HepG2 cells and promoted their apoptosis. Potassium ions induced apoptosis through regulating Bcl-2 family members and depolarized the mitochondrial membrane, especially for HepG2 cell. These biological effects were associated with channel protein HERG. By facilitating expression of channel protein HERG, potassium ions may prevent it from being shunted to procancerous pathways by inducing apoptosis. These results demonstrated that potassium ions may be a key regulator of liver cell function. Thus, our findings suggest that potassium ions could inhibit tumorigenesis through inducing apoptosis of hepatoma cells by upregulating potassium ions transport channel proteins HERG and VDAC1.
Highlights
The plasma membrane (PM) ion channels involve almost all of the basic cellular processes and the malignant phenotype of tumor cells
In the process of tumorigenesis development, the differences on tumor gene expression levels are determined by ion channels, which may involve, at least in part, a number of pathophysiological features associated with malignant growth [1,2,3]
We compared the effect of potassium ions in L02 and HepG2 cells and investigated the regulation mechanism of cell functional changes induced by potassium ions
Summary
The plasma membrane (PM) ion channels involve almost all of the basic cellular processes and the malignant phenotype of tumor cells. In the ion transport molecular family, based on the biochemical structure and highest variability, potassium channels might be the most likely ones to be designed for the targeted therapy of the channel in cancer [4]. It could be used as a new research direction, providing important clues in the development of new therapeutic agents [5]. The changes of cell death, proliferation, adhesion, and migration have a significant impact on life activities All these changes can affect the tumorigenesis. Interfering with potassium channel expression or activity may offer a new therapy for liver cancer [4]
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