Depletion of telomerase RNA inhibits growth of gastrointestinal tumors transplanted in mice

Figure 1 General characteristics of gastrointestinal stromal tumors. A, B: Morphological features of gastrointestinal stromal tumor cells as observed under inverted microscope; C: Tumors developed at the site of human tumor implantation in mice (arrow); D: Representative solid tumor removed from a mouse.

Figure 2 Phosphorothioate antisense oligodeoxynucleotides mediated inhibition of tumor growth in human gastrointestinal stromal tumors (n = 10 tumors per group). Daily intra-tumor injection of phosphorothioate antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (PS-ASODN) and other reagents commenced on post-inoculation day 7 and continued to day 28. A: Tumor volume; B: Tumor weight; C: Inhibition of tumor growth. ^bP < 0.01 vs liposome negative control and imatinib groups. Each bar represents the mean ± SD.

Figure 3 Effect of phosphorothioate antisense oligodeoxynucleotides and other reagents on telomerase activity in gastrointestinal stromal tumors tissues (n = 10 tumors per group). ^bP < 0.01 vs tumors treated with phosphorothioate antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (PS-ASODN) and imatinib.

Figure 4 Effect of phosphorothioate antisense oligodeoxynucleotides and other reagents on tumor cell apoptosis (n = 10 tumors per group). ^bP < 0.01 vs liposome negative control and imatinib groups. 1: Liposome negative control group; 2: Imatinib group; 3: Phosphorothioate antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (PS-ASODN) group. PI: Propidium iodide; FITC: Fluorescein isothiocyanate.

Figure 5 B-cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 mRNA expression in tumor samples as detected by real time-polymerase chain reaction (n = 10 mice per group). ^bP < 0.01 vs control and imatinib groups. Each bar represents the mean ± SD. M: Marker, 100-2000 bp; 1: Imatinib-treated group; 2: Phosphorothioate antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (PS-ASODN)-treated group; Lane 3: Control group. bcl-2: B-cell leukemia/lymphoma 2.