Inhibition of proliferation and gene expression regulation by (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate in human synovial sarcoma cells

Synovial sarcoma is an aggressive soft-tissue malignancy with poor prognosis and lack of response to conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy. The regulatory mechanisms for the rapid proliferation of synovial sarcoma cells and the particular aggressiveness of this sarcoma remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the effect of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) on growth and apoptosis of chondrosarcoma cells. The MTT assay and DAPI staining indicated that EGCG effectively inhibited cellular proliferation and induces apoptosis of the synovial sarcoma cells and induced apoptosis as confirmed by flow cytometry. Furthermore, Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 levels significantly decreased, Bax levels significantly increased, whereas expression levels of the proteins Bcl-XL were unchanged in response to EGCG treatment in SW982. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that EGCG is effective for growth inhibition of synovial sarcoma cell lines in vitro and suggest that EGCG may be a new therapeutic option for patients with synovial sarcoma.