Adenosine inhibits migration, invasion and induces apoptosis of human cervical cancer cells.

Extracellular adenosine is a key signaling molecule which mediates immune suppression, angiogenesis, and regulates cancer cells growth. The effect of adenosine on cervical cancer cells migration and invasion has not been well studied. In the current study, we used Hela and SiHa cell lines to evaluate the effects of adenosine on cervical cancer cells migration, invasion, and apoptosis. The results showed that adenosine treatment inhibited the migration and invasion activities of Hela and SiHa cells. Moreover, by determining the expression of molecules which were involved in epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) progress, we found that epithelial marker E-cadherin was significantly increased in response to adenosine treatment, while the mesenchymal markers including N-cadherin and fibronectin were decreased. These data suggested that adenosine inhibited cervical cancer cells via repressing the EMT progress. The flow cytometry analysis showed that adenosine could also induce cervical cancer cell apoptosis, which mechanism was further confirmed by investigating the expression levels of apoptosis related molecules, via activating mitochondrial apoptosis pathway. These data might suggest that adenosine could be used as an agent for the treatment of cervical cancer.