Effect of hypoxia on epithelial growth factor receptor expression and cell apoptosis of breast cancer and cervical cancer xenografts in nude mice / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the effect of hypoxia on the expression of epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) and cell apoptosis of breast and cervical cancer xenografts in nude mouse models.Methods The nude mouse models with MCF-7 and HeLa xenografts were established.The degree of hypoxia and EGFR expression were observed by confocal microscopy.The influence of EGFR expression on cell apoptosis under hypoxia was observed by TUNEL assay.Results EGFR expression was either up-regulated or down-regulated in the MCF-7 and HeLa cells with high degree of hypoxia.Furthermore,the degree of apoptosis was reduced in tumor tissues with high EGFR expression compared with that in those with low expression of EGFR.Conclusion The hypoxia in MCF-7 and HeLa cells exerts heterogeneous effect on EGFR expression.Under hypoxic conditions,EGFR exoression is negatively correlated with cell apoptosis.