Effects of NF-κB and hypoxia on the biological behavior of Y79 retinoblastoma cells.

We aimed to investigate the influence of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) on the biological behavior of Y79 retinoblastoma cells exposed to hypoxia and its possible mechanism. The cells were administrated with hypoxia, and/or 5 μM pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) (a selective NF-κB inhibitor) to inhibit the NF-κB activity, expressions of NF-κB was measured by western blot, and the translocation of NF-κB was detected. To examine the proliferation of Y79 cells, MTT assay was applied. Transwell assay was used to detect the invasion and migration ability of cells. The expressions of molecules involved in invasion was analyzed including HIF-1α, MMP-2, 9, and VEGF. We found that hypoxia significantly activated NF-κB activity. While once the NF-κB was inhibited, the proliferation, invasion and migration ability of Y79 cells were also blocked. Interestingly, the expressions of invasion-involved molecules elevated by hypoxia induction were also decreased when NF-κB was inhibited. Hypoxia could significantly change the adhesive and invasive ability of Y79 retinoblastoma cells, NF-κB signal might be one of the main mediators for these hypoxia induced cell changes of biological behavior via downregulation of HIF-1α and the invasion related molecules, and the mechanism still needs further investigation.