Objective: To study the effects of bcl-2 antisense oligonucleotides (ODN) on the expression of bcl-2 and apoptosis in MCF-7 cell line.
Methods: Artificially synthesized bcl-2 specific antisense OND was introduced into MCF-7 cells by gene pulser electroprotocol. Fluorescence microscope, electron microscope, immunocytochemical staining assay, and FCM were used to detect the effects on cell apoptosis, expressional level of bcl-2 protein and cell cycle after transfecting bcl-2 antisense ODN.
Results: The number of apoptotic cells was increased and expression of bcl-2 protein was declined (P < 0.05). FCM showed that the number of G(0)-G(1) phase cells was decreased and the number of G(2)-M, S phase cells were increased.
Conclusions: The effective transient expression of bcl-2 antisense ODN can be obtained by gene pulser electroprotocol in MCF-7 cell, the function of bcl-2 gene was declined and the number of apoptotic cells was increased after transfecting bcl-2 antisense ODN. bcl-2 may be used as an useful target in tumor research.