Research on reversal effects of wild-type p53 on drug-resistant hepatoma cells

Objective: To investigate the reversal effects of p53 on the drug-resistant hepatoma cells. Methods: The 3 hepatoma cell lines with different status of p53 were treated with bleomycin, mitomycin or methotrexate following infection with wtp53 via a recombinant adenovirus. Results: HepG2(wtp53), Hep3B(p53-/-) and PLC/PRF/5 (mtp53) were not sensitive to 600 μg/ml of bleo, 100 μg/ml of mito or 1 000 μg/ml of meth. But when introduced by wtp53 and retreated with same concentration of above drugs, the hepatoma cell growth were markedly suppressed. Conclusion: wtp53 gene transfer and chemotherapy can reverse the hepatoma cell's drug resistance. Gene therapy using wtp53-expressing adenovirus in combination with a chemotherapy may be an attractive strategy for hepatoma.