Effect of endostatin on proliferation and apoptosis in mouse ACHN renal cell carcinoma

Objective To study the effect of endostatin gene therapy on proliferation and apoptosis in mouse renal cell carcinoma(RCC) cells beared in a nude mice model. Methods ACHN-bearing nude mices were treated subcutaneously with 30 μg pSecES in experimental group,30 μg pcDNA3.1 in control group and nothing in vacant group and were repeated at 3-day intervals for three times.After 34 days,the mices were sacrificed.Cell proliferation activity was detected by proliferation cell nuclear antigen(PCNA) immunostaining,and apoptosis was also detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling(TUNEL). Results The growth of ACHN RCC cells in the experimental group were significantly suppressed than those in the control group and vacant group.The apoptotic index in the experimental group was higher than that in the control group and vacant group(both P0.01).Statistical analysis revealed an inverse correlation between the apoptotic index and the tumor's volume(r=-0.734 6,P 0.01),but the proliferation index had no correlation with the volume. Conclusions It was suggested that endostatin gene therapy may shrink the volume of the ACHN RCC tumors and slow down their growth,which indicated that this method could be employed for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma.