Apoptosis induction with polo-like kinase-1 antisense phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotide of colon cancer cell line SW480

AIM:To investigate the effects of polo-like kinase-1 (PLKl) antisense phosphorothioate oligodeoxynudeotide (ASODN) on apoptosis and cell cycle of human colon cancer cell line SW480. METHODS:After SW480 colon cancer cells were transfected with PLKl ASODN, Northern and Western blot analyses were used to examine PLKl gene expression in cancer cells. We studied apoptosis using terminal uridine deoxynudeotidyl nick end labeling. Apoptosis and cell cycle of SW480 cells were examined by fluorescence-activated cell sorter scan. RESULTS:The levels of PLKl mRNA and protein were greatly inhibited by PLKl ASODN in SW480 cancer cells transfected with PLKl ASODN. Apoptosis index (AI) induced PLKl ASODN in a time-and dose-dependent manner. Results from FLM showed that sub-2N DNA content of transfected cancer cells was significantly increased and arrested at G_2/M compared with control groups. CONCLUSION:PLKl ASODN can induce apoptosis of human colon cancer cell line SW480.