Objective: To study the therapeutic effect and mechanisms of recombinant adenovirus Ad-p14ARF in hepatocel- lular carcinoma cell lines. Methods: Morphology and trypan blue assay were adopted to evaluate the proliferation of different liver cancer cells after Ad-p14ARF infection. Cell apoptosis was confirmed by detecting phosphatidylserine (PS) externaliza- tion with Annexin V/PI double staining. Western blotting assay analyzed the expression of related proteins. Subcutaneous tumor model of BEL7402 was established to evaluate the therapeutic ability of Ad-p14ARF. Results: Ad-p14ARF suppressed cell growth, proliferation and promoted cell apoptosis of cancer cell lines with different genetic background. Ad-p14ARF in- hibited growth of liver cancer cells (HepG2, BEL7402) in a dose-dependent manner. Ad-p14ARF leaded to overexpression of Bax and p21, which were the downstream regulating genes of p53. Ad-p14ARF suppressed tumor growth significantly in the experimental therapy in nude mice bearing subcutaneous tumor of BEL7402. Conclusion: P14ARF gene is a powerful tumor suppressor gene to be used in cancer gene therapy. It may play an important role in gene therapy against the malignancies in the future.
Haili QianHaifeng SongXueyan ZhangXiao LiangMing FuChen Lin
