Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: It is well-known that angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) plays an important role in the formation of the blood vascular system. Angiopoietin is involved in many diseases about angiogenesis such as tumor, so may have great prospects for the treatment of these diseases. The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of inhibiting Ang-2 via adeno-associated virus induced RNA interference (RNAi) on the biological characteristics of bronchogenic adenocarcinoma. METHODS: AAV-Ang-2shRNA driven by H1 promoter was constructed to transfect A549 cell line. Normal and AAV-Null cell line were utilized in the control groups. The influence of RNAi on Ang-2 expression as well as the growth rate, tumorigenic efficiency, proliferation rate, apoptosis, and microvessel density of A549 cell line were analyzed. RESULTS: In vitro experiment indicated that the Ang-2 expression level (P<0.001) and growth rate (P<0.001) of A549 cell line 48 h transfected with AAV-Ang-2shRNA were significantly lower than those in the normal and AAV-Null cell lines. Cell cycle analysis showed the proliferation index (PI) of normal, AAV-Null, and AAV-Ang-2shRNA transfected A549 cell line were 0.51± 0.43, 0.48 ± 0.29, and 0.26 ± 0.31, respectively, which indicated the PI of AAV-Ang-2shRNA transfected cell line was significantly lower, compared with the normal and AAV-Null cell lines. In vivo experiment exhibited that AAV-Ang-2shRNA transfected cell line possessed a lower mass and volume of tumor relative to two control groups. In addition, the apoptosis index (AI) of AAV-Ang-2shRNA transfected, normal, and AAV-Null cell lines were (5.98 ± 3.11)%, (7.51 ± 4.42)% and (17.06 ± 7.43)% respectively, which manifested that AAV-Ang-2shRNA transfected cell line possessed a higher AI (P=0.005, P=0.007). A lower percentage of PCNA-positive cell was observed in AAV-Ang-2shRNA transfected cell line (92.75 ± 9.7)% as well, compared with the normal (85.8 ± 11.8)% and AAV-Null (69.8 ± 16.5)% cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: AAV-mediated expression of shRNA significantly reduces concentration of Ang-2 in A549 cell line, lowers proliferation and growth rate and induce .apoptosis of A549 cell line.