Effects of survivin antisense oligonucleotide on gastric carcinoma cell apoptosis and cell sensitivity to resveratrol

AIM: To explore the effects of antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ASODN) of survivin gene on apoptosis and sensitivity to resveratrol in gastric carcinoma cells. METHODS: Anti-survivin phosphorothioated ASODN was synthesized and transfected into gastric carcinoma cells by lipofectin. MTT assay was used to detect cytotoxicity. Apoptosis was observed by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Survivin expression was determined by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: ① survivin ASODN inhibited the cell proliferation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. ② A higher apoptosis rate [(33.6± 1.2)%] could be induced in gastric carcinoma cells by survivin ASODN as compared with that induced by the sense oligodeoxynucleotide [(10.7±0.8)%, P0.05]. ③ The expression of survivin mRNA and protein significantly decreased in SGC7901 cells after treated with survivin ASODN. ④ There was a significant increase in the growth inhibition rate in SGC7901 cells after exposured to the combination of survivin ASODN and resveratrol as compared with resveratrol or survivin ASODN alone (both P 0.05). CONCLUSION: Survivin ASODN can inhibit the proliferation of gastric carcinoma SGC7901 cells, induce their apoptosis, and enhance the cell sensitivity to resveratrol via specific down-regulation of survivin expression.