Objective: To investigate the effect of lactoferrin on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) expression.
Methods: Lactoferrin at concentration of 0.006, 0.013, 0.025, 0.050 g/L and blank control groups were included in this study. The gene and protein expression of VEGF, bFGF were examined by RT-PCR and Western blotting.
Results: The RT-PCR and Western blotting assay showed that VEGF mRNA(0.31 +/- 0.08) and protein (0.68 +/- 0.11) in lactoferrin (0.050 g/L) group were significantly lower than in the control group (P < 0.05), and the bFGFmRNA (0.27 +/- 0.10) and protein (0.68 +/- 0.07) in lactoferrin (0.050 g/L) group were also significantly lower than in the control group (P < 0.05).
Conclusions: Lactoferrin could inhibit the expression of VEGF, bFGFmRNA and protein in Tca8113 cells. This effect might be one of the mechanisms for anticancer function of lactoferrin.