Inhibitory effect of arsenic trioxide on survivin expression in heterologous graft model of human breast infiltrating duct carcinoma in nude mice

Objective To investigate the inhibitory effect of arsenic trioxide (As 2O 3) on the survivin expression in heterologous graft model of human breast infiltrating duct carcinoma in nude mice. Methods Nude mice bearing the transplanted tumor were randomly divided into four groups: negative control (saline), positive control (cisplatin at the dose of 1.5 mg/kg), and two experimental groups (arsenic trioxide at the doses of 1.5 mg/kg and 3.0 mg/kg). The expression of survivin mRNA and protein expressions of surviving and Caspase 3 in neoplastic tissues were detected by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical method, respectively. Results In negative control group, the expressions of survivin mRNA and survivin protein were in moderate degree with positive rates of 82.42% and 78.85%, respectively. The positive rates of moderate degree in experimental groups 1 and 2 were gradually decreased with the increasing dose of arsenic trioxide ( P 0.001), which were 25.96%, 6.90%, 18.0%, and 5 85%, respectively, showing a descending tendency compared with those in the negative and positive control groups. The results by in situ hybridization were consistent with those by immunohistochemical method, but the expression of caspase 3 in the four groups was reversely correlated with that of survivin. Conclusion Arsenic trioxide can inhibit the high expression of survivin in heterologous graft cells of human breast infiltrating duct carcinoma in a dose dependent manner in nude mice.