BACKGROUNDTo determine the inhibitory effect of antisense peptide nucleic acids (PNA) of telomerase on the growth of lung cancer cell lines.

METHODSThe synthesized modified antisense PNAs of telomerase were transfected into the lung cancer cell lines A549 and NCI-H446 respectively by lipofectamine transfection. Telomerase activity was detected by RT-PCR-ELLISA, and the cell counts were determined by MTT.

RESULTSSeventy two hours after transfection with antisense PNAs of telomerase, telomerase activity (A450 value) of A549 and NCI-H446 were down regulated from 0.582 ±0.039, 0.571±0.043 to 0.294±0.048 ( P < 0.01), 0.276±0.051 ( P < 0.01) respectively, and alive cell counts (A580 value) of them from 0.485± 0.009 , 0.513±0.015 to 0.191±0.027 ( P < 0.01), 0.138±0.046 ( P < 0.01) respectively. The growth of two lung cancer cell lines were significantly inhibited.

CONCLUSIONSAntisense PNA of telomerase might inhibit not only the telomerase activity, but also the growth of lung cancer cell lines in vitro.