Objective: Heparanase (HPSE), as the only enzyme which can degrade the extracellular matrix and heparin sulfate in basement membrane, plays an important role in invasion and metastasis of tumor cells. In this study, we evaluated the inhibitory effect of HPSE antisense oligoxydeonucleotide (ASODN) on lung carcinoma cell line A-549 invasion. Methods: Liposome-mediated ASODN was transfected into A-549 cells and expression of HPSE protein and mRNA were detected by flow cytometry and RT-PCR techniques. Matrigel invasion assays were employed to assess effects on invasiveness. Results: Lower expression of HPSE protein and mRNA and lower invasive ability to recombinate basal membrane were apparent after ASOND treatment (P<0.01). The inhibition rates of cell invasiveness were 55.6%, 82.3% and 91.2% treated by ASODN at final concentrations of 100, 200 and 400nmol/L, respectively. Conclusions: HPSE ASODN can downregulate the expression of HPSE protein and mRNA in the A-549 cell line and can obviously inhibit its invasive ability in a dose-dependent manner in vitro.
)