Study on the inhibitory effects of ginsenoside Rg1 combined with nedaplatin on the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells OVCAR-3 through Hedgehog pathway and its mechanism

Objective To investigate the effects of nedaplatin combined with ginsenoside Rg1 on the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells OVCAR-3, and its possible mechanism.

Methods The CCK-8 assay was used to detect the effects of ginsenoside Rg1, nedaplatin and their combination on the proliferation of OVCAR-3 cells.Western-blot was used to detect the expression levels of key proteins of Hedgehog pathway(PTCH1, SMO and Gli1).The flow cytometry was used to detect the changes of cell cycle of OVCAR-3 cells after drug intervention.

Results Compared with the control group, the proliferation of OVCAR-3 cells in ginsenoside Rg1 group, nedaplatin group and combined drug group were inhibited, and the difference of which among three groups were statistically significant(P < 0.05).At the same time, ginsenoside Rg1 and nedaplatin showed synergistic effects.Compared with the control group, the expression levels of PTCH1, SMO and Gli1 proteins in nedaplatin group, ginsenoside Rg1 group and combined drug group decreased significantly, the difference of which among three groups were statistically significant(P < 0.05), and the synergistic effect between ginsenoside Rg1 and nedaplatin was found.Compared with the control group, only the combined drug group, the cell cycle was arrested at G₂ phase(P < 0.05).

Conclusions Ginsenoside Rg1 combined with nedaplatin may inhibit the proliferation of OVCAR-3 cells by modulating Hedgehog pathway related proteins to arrest the cell cycle at G₂ phase, and ginsenoside Rg1 shows the synergistic effect on nedaplatin.