Hormone-dependent angiogenesis induced by vasoactive intestinal peptide in nude mouse prostate cancer LNCaP

Objective To explore the mechanism of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) inducing angiogenesis by detecting the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA content and microvessel density (MVD) in experimental prostate cancer in vivo.Methods Nude mice were subcutaneously injected with LNCaP prostate cancer cells.Cells were incubated for 1 h in the presence (experimental group) or absence (control group) of 100 nmol/L VIP for 1 h before xenograf.By measuring the transplanted tumor volume,real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR) was used to detect VEGF mRNA,and CD34 was applied to calculate the MVD in the transplanted tumor tissue at 8th day and 15th day.Results The tumor volume,VEGF mRNA content and MVD in the experimental group [(55.38 ± 10.82),(89.41 ±15.66) mm3; 1.38±0.41,1.76 ±0.67; 43.7±11.4,59.1 ± 13.8] were significantly increased as compared with those in the control group [(28.56 ±7.39),(48.73 ± 12.48) mm3 ;0.42±0.13,0.59±0.24; 26.3 ±9.2,30.6±10.5; P＜0.05].Conclusion This study indicatesVIP promotes the growth of LNCaP cells probably by inducing angiogenesis in vivo. Key words: Prostate carcinoma;  Vasoactive intestinal peptide;  Vascular endothelial growth factor;  Microvessel density