Upregulation of bax Gene Expression Promotes Paclitaxel-induced Apoptosis in Esophageal Carcinoma Cells.
An inducible mammalian expression vector of bax gene was constructed and the control ability of metallothionein II promoter in esophageal carcinoma cell line was systematically identified with luciferase report gene. After the transfection of it into human esophageal carcinoma cell line Eca109, Bax protein expression was analyzed by immunolcytochemical method. Paclitaxel-induced apoptosis was determined by TUNEL assay, DNA ladder assay and flow cytometry. Results showed that 140 &mgr;mol/L ZnSO(4) for 12 h is optimal for induction of bax gene expression. Under these conditions, a clonal transfectant X1097(#), expressing bax gene effectively, was obtained. It was found that, X1097(#) had higher apoptotic rate and was more sensible than Eca109. These results implied that Bax protein may play an important role in paclitaxel-induced apoptosis. Therefore, bax protein may be promising as an helping drug to improve therapeutic effects of paclitaxel.
Peng
Wei-Dan
WD
Department of Biochemistry, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710033, China. pengwd@263.net
Zhang
Jie
J
Hui
Hong-Xiang
HX
Xu
Yan-Ming
YM
Zhu
Feng
F
Yang
An-Gang
AG
Wang
Cheng-Ji
CJ