Objective: To study the growth inhibitory effects of p21WAF1 and p53 overexpression in human lung adenocarcinoma cell line.
Methods: The p21WAF1 and p53 gene were transfected respectively into a human lung adenocarcinoma cell line, GLC-82. Flow cytometry (FLC), transmission electron microscopy (EM) and TUNEL technique were used to evaluate cell growth and identify apoptosis.
Results: The GLC-82 transfected by p21 plasmid showed increased cell number in G1 phase of cell cycle, decreased proliferation potential and decreased cloning efficiency. Apoptosis have not been detected neither on EM nor by TUNEL technique, whereas the GLC-82 infected by Ad-p53 showed significantly decreased proliferation potential and some of them even died, in addition apoptosis was confirmed by TUNEL technique.
Conclusion: The results indicate that p21WAF1 and p53 can inhibit proliferation; p53 also can induce apoptosis of lung adenocarcinoma cell. Therefore, these two genes should have a wide application in gene therapy of tumors in future.