title: Ad-PUMA sensitizes ovarian cancer cells to chemotherapeutic agents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Ovarian cancer accounted for the first cause of death in female reproductive system tumor even with the operation and chemotherapy. We sought to evaluate the therapeutic potential of p53 up-regulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA) in ovarian cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  An adenovirus expressing PUMA (Ad-PUMA), alone or in combination with chemotherapeutic agents, was used to treat two different ovarian cancer cell lines. The mechanism of PUMA-mediated growth suppression and apoptosis was investigated by analysis of caspase-9 activation and the change of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The exogenous PUMA was expressed 6 h after Ad-PUMA infection, which increased the chemosensitivity of the cancer cells and decreased the IC50 of chemotherapeutic agents compared with uninfected cells. The apoptotic percentage of OVCAR-3 and SKOV3 increased greatly compared with Taxol or Cisplatin alone. There was shear zone in caspase-9 and Δψm decrease after Ad-PUMA infection which suggested apoptosis started in mitochondrial mediated pathway.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PUMA plays a role in suppressing tumor growth and sensitizing ovarian cancer cells to anticancer drugs and may be a promising tool for cancer biotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, North China University of Science and Technology Affiliated Hospital, TangShan, HeBei Province, China. yanchen0806@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Q-C
authors.initials: QC
authors.lastname: Luan
authors.forename: Y-R
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000256:Adenoviridae; D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006801:Humans; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019076:Transgenes / Q000235:genetics; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; C438378:BBC3 protein, human; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D017239:Paclitaxel; D002945:Cisplatin