Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of acitretin on the growth and apoptosis induction in epidermal squamous cell carcinoma cell-line in vitro. Methods Human epidermal squamous cell carcinoma cells (cell line A431) and human benign epidermal keratinocytes (cell line HaCaT) were cultured. After the treatment with acitretin, inhibition of cellular growth was determined by measuring MTT dye absorption of the living cells. Light and electron microscopy observed morphological changes. The apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry, and proved by the Annexin-V staining. Results Acitretin could significantly inhibit the growth of A431 cells with a dose-and time-dependent manner. The inhibitory rate was higher in A431 cells than that in HaCaT under the same concentration and duration of co-culture. Light and electron microscopy revealed characteristic morphological changes of cell apoptosis. The DNA flow cytometric analysis showed that acitretin could induce more sub-G1 phase in A431 cells, and more Annexin-V stained cells in the longer cocultured time. Conclusions Acitretin plays an inhibitory role in the tumor cell growth and induces the cell apoptosis in epidermal carcinoma cells.

Key words: Acitretin, Carcinoma, squamous cell, Cells, cultured, Apoptosis