Abstract
Objectives: Previous investigations have shown that human wild-type p53 gene (WTp53) inhibits the growth of leukemia and tumor cells in vitro. In the present study, the authors used nude mice and examined the therapeutic role of p53 gene for erythroleukemia in vivo in the absence of MHC effects.
Methods: The nude mice were injected with murine erythroleukemia cells (MEL), MEL cells transfected with wild-type p53 gene (MEL-W), and MEL cells transfected with mutated p53 gene (MEL-M). Abnormalities were found in the hemorheological and biophysical properties of red blood cells in all 3 groups of animals, but the abnormalities were lesser in degree and later in appearance in MEL-W group than in MEL and MEL-M groups. Furthermore, the nude mice in MEL-W group lived longer than those in MEL and MEL-M groups.
Results: The results showed that WTp53 restrained the growth of erythroleukemia cells in vivo and reduced the erythroleukemia tumorigenesis in the microcirculation by improving the hemorheological and biophysical properties of MEL cells, which helped to prolong the life span of nude mice suffering from erythroleukemia.
Conclusion: These results contribute to our knowledge on the use of wild-type p53 gene for the treatment of erythroleukemia disease.
This work was supported by a National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 10572007 and 30270355).