Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) inhibitors and
histone deacetylase (
HDAC) inhibitors have recently emerged as promising anticancer drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of combination treatment with the
PARP inhibitor PJ34 and
HDAC inhibitor SAHA on the proliferation of
liver cancer cells. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were assessed in three human
liver cancer cell lines (HepG2, Hep3B and HCC-LM3) treated with
PJ34 (8 μmol/L) and SAHA (1 μmol/L), alone or combined, by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay and flow cytometry, respectively. The nude mice bearing subcutaneous HepG2
tumors were administered different groups of drugs (10 mg/kg
PJ34, 25 mg/kg SAHA, 10 mg/kg PJ34+25 mg/kg SAHA), and the inhibition rates of
tumor growth were compared between groups. The results showed that combined use of
PJ34 and SAHA could synergistically inhibit the proliferation of
liver cancer cell lines HepG2, Hep3B and HCC-LM3. The apoptosis rate of HepG2 cells treated with PJ34+SAHA was significantly higher than that of HepG2 cells treated with
PJ34 or SAHA alone (P<0.05). In vivo, the
tumor inhibition rates were 53.5%, 61.4% and 82.6% in
PJ34, SAHA and PJ34+SAHA groups, respectively. The combined use of
PJ34 and SAHA could significantly inhibit the xenograft
tumor growth when compared with use of
PJ34 or SAHA alone (P<0.05). It was led to conclude that
PJ34 and SAHA can synergistically suppress the proliferation of
liver cancer cells.