Exogenous p53 Upregulated Modulator of Apoptosis (PUMA) Decreases Growth of Lung Cancer A549 Cells

Purpose: To investigate the influence of exogenous p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA) expressionon cell proliferation and apoptosis in human non-small cell lung cancer A549 cells and transplanted tumor cellgrowth in nude mice. Materials and
Methods: A549 cells were divided into the following groups: control, noncarrier(NC), PUMA (transfected with pCEP4- (HA) 2-PUMA plasmid), DDP (10μg/mL cisplatin treatment)and PUMA+DDP (transfected with pCEP4-(HA)2-PUMA plasmid and 10μg/mL cisplatin treatment). The MTTmethod was used to detect the cell survival rate. Cell apoptosis rates were measured by flow cytometry, andPUMA, Bax and Bcl-2 protein expression levels were measured by Western blotting.
Results: Compared to thecontrol group, the PUMA, DDP and PUMA+DDP groups all had significantly decreased A549 cell proliferation(p<0.01), with the largest reduction in the PUMA+DDP group. Conversely, the apoptosis rates of the three groupswere significantly increased (P < 0.01), and the PUMA and DDP treatments were synergistic. Moreover, Baxprotein levels significantly increased (p<0.01), while Bcl-2 protein levels significantly decreased (p<0.01). Finally,both the volume and the weights of transplanted tumors were significantly reduced (p<0.01), and the inhibitionratio of the PUMA+DDP group was significantly higher than in the single DDP or PUMA groups.
Conclusions:Exogenous PUMA effectively inhibited lung cancer A549 cell proliferation and transplanted tumor growth byincreasing Bax protein levels and reducing Bcl-2 protein levels.