Choriocarcinoma cell line response to dexamethasone

Abstract

Choriocarcinoma cell lines JAr and JEG-3 are model systems for the study of transformed trophoblast. Both cell lines were shown to produce galectin-1, expression of which was increased in choriocarcinoma when compared to the normal trophoblast of pregnancy. In this study the effects of synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone were investigated in both JAr and JEG-3 cell lines by the MTT test, cell based ELISA, and the cell adhesion and migration tests. Viable cell number/cell proliferation of JAr cells was significantly increased after treatment with 0.1 and 1 nmol/L of dexamethasone, while proliferation of JEG-3 cells was significantly increased after treatment in the whole concentration range of dexamethasone (0.1-100 nmol/L). Galectin-1 in JAr cells was modulated by dexamethasone, which mildly, but significantly decreased production at low concentrations (0.1 and 1 nmol/L). In JEG-3 cells pro duction of galectin-1 was significantly decreased only after treat ment with 100 nmol/L of dexamethasone. Cell adhesion of JEG-3 was significantly increased in the presence of lactose, an inhibitory sugar for gal-1, while dexamethasone induced decrease of JEG-3 cell migration. These findings have shown that dexamethasone may affect proliferation, gal-1 production and cell migration, in a cell line specific manner. These data suggest that glucocorticoid treatment in vivo might have the potential to affect cell functions in choriocarcinoma.

Keywords

• choriocarcinoma cell lines
• dexamethasone
• proliferation
• galectin-1