Deoxyribozyme inhibits the proliferation of human umbilical artery smooth muscle cells

AIM: To observe the inhibition effects of 10 - 23 deoxyribozyme (DNAzyme) specific to human proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) gene on the proliferation of human umbilical artery smooth muscle cells ( HUASMC) in vitro. METHODS: Using lipofectamine (Lip) - mediated method, the DNAzyme specific to PCNA was introduced into HUASMC. [3H] - TdR incorporation was determined. The cell proliferation was examined by MTT assay and cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry. RESULTS: [3H] - TdR incorporation in 1.0 μmol/L DNAzyme group was lower than that in control group (P0.05) at 2 days after transfection. Compared with control group, the A value of MTT cholorimetric analysis decreased in 1.0 μ-mol/L DNAzyme group and antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (ASODN) group, at 2, 3 and 5 days after transfection significandy (P0.01). The decrease in A value showed a dose - dependent manner within the experimental range at 5 days. After 2 days, the percentage of quiescence cells (G0/G1) was 73.8%, 54.7% and 41.1% in DNAzyme, ASODN and control groups, respectively. CONCLUSION: The DNAzyme specific to PCNA suppresses the proliferation of HUASMC effectively in vitro.