Objective To investigate the effect of the nuclear factor (NF)-κBp65 antisense oligonucleotide (ASODN) on NF-κB activity and expression of interleukin(IL)-6 in hepatic stellate cells (HSC). Methods The HSC were separated from rats and cultured. The toxicity of NF-κBp65 ASODN on HSC were detected by Trypan blue exclusion staining and the NF-κB activity was determined by EMSA. The expressions of IL-6 mRNA and protein were meaured by RT-PCR and ELISA, respectively. Results In vitro, no toxicity of ASODN on HSC was observed at the concentrations of 0. 001 to 1.0 μmol/L. NF-κB activity was increased after stimulating HSC with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α, whereas it was weakened in a dose dependent manner when HSC were cultured with ASODN (concentration from 0. 001 to 1.0 μmol/L). At the same time, the expressions of IL-6 mRNA and protein induced by TNFα were decreased after transfected with ASODN at concentrations of 0.001- 1. 0 μmol/L in a dose dependent manner. Conclusion ASODN may specifically inhibit either the activiy of NF-κB or expression of IL-6, which provides the theoretical basis that ASODN may use to treat fibrosis of the liver.

The normal esophageal mucosa specific 1 gene(NMES1)is considered as a tumor suppressor gene which significantly reduces expression of various malignant tumors.The NMES1 can affect various cellular biological behaviors such as proliferation,apoptosis and migration of tumor cells.These findings provide new strategies for searching early biomarkers or therapeutic targets of malignant tumors and support the evaluation of disease progres-sion and prognosis.