Sodium butyrate stimulates hCG and hCG-alpha production in a human choriocarcinoma cell line (BeWo).

To assess regulatory mechanism(s) of hormone production between ectopic and eutopic tumor cells, the effect of sodium butyrate on cell growth and hormone production was studied in BeWo, a trophoblastic cell line and in HeLa S3, a nontrophoblastic cell line. The addition of 2 mM sodium butyrate to HeLa S3 produced a marked increase in hCG-alpha both in the medium and in the cell extract, in contrast to its inhibitory effects on cell growth. Sodium butyrate had a similar effect on cell growth and hormone secretion in BeWo cells, as seen with an increase in release of hCG and hCG-alpha were also increased after exposure to sodium butyrate in BeWo. Thus, the regulation of hormone production in trophoblastic and nontrophoblastic tumor cells probably does not differ.