Objective To investigate the effect of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) specific inhibitor TAK-242 on the proliferation and apoptosis of human multiple myeloma cell line RPMI8226.

Methods Treated with 0, 20, 40 and 80 μmol/L TAK-242, the human multiple myeloma cell line RPMI8226 with logarithmic growth were divided into control group, group A, group B and group C, respectively. After 24 hours of culture, the cell proliferation inhibition rate was detected by CCK-8 method; the apoptosis rate was detected by Annexin-V/PI; the expression levels of TLR4 and Myd88 mRNA were detected by RT-PCR; the protein expression levels of Myd88 and NF-κB were detected by Western blot.

Results Compared with the control group, the cell proliferation inhibition rate and apoptosis rate of group A, B and C were increased; the expression levels of TLR4, Myd88 mRNA and the protein expression levels of Myd88 and NF-κB were decreased; and the differences among group A, B and C were statistically significant (P < 0.05).

Conclusion TAK-242 could inhibit the proliferation and promote the apoptosis of human multiple myeloma cell line RPMI8226, which may be related with the inhibition of NF-κB signaling pathway function.