Study on the anti-tumor effects of the key component of traditional Chinese medicine nightshade in the treatment of human gastric cancer (SGC7901 cell line)

Gastric cancer is among the most prevalent malignancies with high mortality and morbidity, so some safe and effective treatment methods, such as medications, are required. A previous study has revealed that Quercetin, a key component of traditional Chinese medicine nightshade, has anti-tumour effects on treating colon cancer by mediating the PI3K/AKT-dependent signalling pathway. This study will investigate the effects of Quercetin treatment on gastric cancer through several experiments, including measuring apoptosis by FACS for annexin V/HOECHST, cell number by MTT assay, phosphorylation levels of PI3K and AKT and 3 cleavages by western blot, treating SGC7901 xenograft mice with Quercetin and measuring xenograft tumour size. Materials include human cancer cell line SGC7901, Xenograft mice, different concentrations of Quercetin solution, DDP as positive control and PBS/DMSO as negative control. There are four most possible results: (1) Quercetin promotes apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo cell lines; The phosphorylation levels of PI3K and AKT decrease significantly, and expression of caspase 3 increases; (2) The Quercetin promotes apoptosis in vitro cell cultures; The phosphorylation levels of PI3K and AKT decrease significantly, and expression of caspase 3 increases; (3) The Quercetin promotes apoptosis in vitro cell cultures; (4) The Quercetin doesn’t promote any apoptosis both in vivo and in vitro. The result of this research will be important information for future investigation, which should focus on extending the use of Quercetin in different cancer, the mechanism of Quercetin promoting apoptosis in cancer cells in detail, and the clinical trial of Quercetin.