Investigating the effect of inhibition STAT3 / AKT signaling pathway on colon cancer cell growth and proliferation

Abstract

Despite the many efforts made in recent decades to treat colon cancer, there is still no effective and efficient treatment for this disease, and due to the increasing rate of this cancer, there is an urgent need to find new treatment solutions. Targeting tumor-promoting factors in the tumor microenvironment is one of the most important strategies that many researchers use. Among the tumor-promoting factors, it has been found that the STAT3/AKT axis is very important for the growth of colon cancer. Considering the increased expression of both factors in colon cancer cells, it seems that inhibiting this pathway can be a suitable therapeutic solution. As a result, in this study, our goal is to inhibit the expression of these two factors in colon cancer cells. Materials and methods: This study was conducted on mouse colon cancer cell line (CT26). In order to inhibit the expression of STAT3/AKT factors, nanoparticles loaded with siRNA molecules were used. The effect of treatment on the expression of target factors was evaluated using Real-time PCR method and the effect of treatment on the survival of cancer cells was evaluated using MTT method. Findings: The results of this study showed that the successful transfer of siRNA molecules into cancer cells suppresses the expression of STAT3/AKT factors in these cells. Silencing this axis leads to a decrease in the survival of cancer cells and affects the expression of factors involved in cell survival, angiogenesis, metastasis and cell proliferation.