Small-molecule inhibitors targeted MAPK have been wildly used for some
cancer therapeutics as a biologically viable model, but no one has been used for cervical caner. ERK1/2, one of
MAPK kinases, is expressed high in
cervical cancer tissue. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of ERK1/2 inhibitor
U0126 on proliferation and apoptosis of
cervical cancer cells and appraise the correlated mechanism of the effects. In this study, the cell proliferation of Hela and C33A
cervical cancer cells was tested by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) assay and cell counting after treated with ERK1/2 inhibitor
U0126. The cell cycle and apoptosis were evaluated by flow cytometry (FCM). The
protein levels of ERK1/2 and c-Fos and c-Jun were detected by Western blot. The results indicated that after down-regulating ERK1/2
proteins with the inhibitor
U0126, Hela and C33A cells proliferation was inhibited, cell apoptosis was promoted, the proportions of G0/G1 stage in cell cycle increased, and G2/M stages decreased. After down-regulating ERK1/2
proteins of Hela and C33A cells, the expression levels of p-
c-Fos protein decreased, while p-c-Jun
protein increased. The results of this study indicated that ERK1/2 may promote the development of
cervical cancer cells, suggesting ERK1/2 inhibitor may be used as an effective target for
cervical cancer therapies working for. It might inhibit
cervical cancer cells growth via regulating the
transcription factors expression of c-Fos and c-Jun.