The effect of rapamycin combined with cisplatin on apoptosis and cell cycle distribution of human ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells

Objective: To study the effect of rapamycin alone or combined with cisplatin on apoptosis and cell cycle distribution of human ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells, and elucidate its possible mechanism. Methods: SKOV3 cells were cultured in vitro, the effect of rapamycin alone or combined with cisplatin on apoptosis and cell cycle distribution were examined by flow cytometry assay. The expression of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOr) mrNA was detected by qrT-PCr. results: rapamycin alone inhibited the growth of SKOV3 cells, and caused cell cycle arresting at G1 phase，decreased cell number at S and G2 phases, then induced apoptosis happening，which reached the highest inhibition rate at 72 h, and the apoptosis of rapamycin combined with cisplatin was higher than in rapamycin alone group，which had statistical significance(P ＜ 0. 01) . The qrT-PCr results showed that the expression of mTOr mrNA was decreased in SKOV3 cells treated with rapamycin after 24 h, and further decreased at 72 h(P ＜ 0. 05) . Conclusions: rapamycin inhibits mTOr expression in PI3K/AKT/mTOr cell signal pathway, caused the cell cycle arresting at G1 phase and induced apoptosis. The two drugs in combination show synergy effect, and rapamycin can strengthen the tumor cells chemotherapy sensitivity to cisplatin.