[Tumor suppression of a constitutively active caspase-3 in the SKBr-3 breast carcinoma xenograft mice model].

AIM: To explore the apoptosis-inducing effect of a constitutively active caspase-3 molecule on human breast carcinoma SKBr-3 cells. METHODS: A revcaspase-3 gene was generated by arranging the coding sequence of the small subunit preceding that of the large one, i.e. in a reverse order of the wild-type caspase-3 gene. A pcDNA3-revcaspase-3 plasmid was constructed and transfected into SKBr-3 cells, and the proapoptotic effect of revcaspase-3 was examined by morphological observation of the cells, cell counting and flow cytometry analysis. The in vivo tumor suppression was further evaluated following i.t. administration of pcDNA3-revcaspase-3, while the apoptosis in tumor tissues was assayed using TUNEL. RESULTS: The apoptosis of SKBr-3 cells was induced after introduction of the revcaspase-3 gene, and tumor growth was strongly suppressed following injection of the pcDNA3 vector harboring revcaspase-3 gene. Revcaspase-3 was expressed in the cells of tumor tissues and apoptosis of the tumor cells was confirmed by TUNEL assays. CONCLUSION: Apoptosis of SKBr-3 cells in a mouse tumor model could be induced by in vivo expression of a revcaspase-3 gene.