Inhibitory effects of decoy-ODN targeting activated STAT3 on human glioma growth in vivo.
BACKGROUND
It has been previously found that a constitutively activated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) blocked by decoy-ODN led to glioma growth inhibition in vitro. The objectives of this study were to identify whether STAT3 decoy-ODN had the same effect or not in vivo.


METHODS
Western blot was used to detect p-STAT3 in glioma and normal brain tissue. U251 cells were subcutaneously injected into nude mice and decoy-ODN was intratumorally administrated. TUNEL was used to exam the apoptosis cells in xenografts. Genes regulated by STAT3 were evaluated by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry.


RESULTS
Activated STAT3 was highly present in glioma but not normal brain tissues. STAT3 decoy-ODN could significantly suppress the growth of glioma by inhibiting proliferation and promoting apoptosis in xenografts. The target genes controlled by STAT3 were down-regulated at both transcription and translation levels.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study suggested that decoy-ODN provide an effective therapeutic approach to treat glioma in vivo.
Department of Neurosurgery, Qi Lu Hospital of Shandong University, 107 Wenhua Western Road, Jinan 250012, Shandong Province, PR China.
Jie
J
Shen
Ronghui
R
Li
Gang
G
Li
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D005910:Glioma / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D008875:Middle Aged; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry*; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*
D009841:Oligonucleotides; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor; C494086:STAT3 protein, human