Relationship between expression of caspase-3 and apoptosis by FasL transfected in lung adenocarcinoma cell

Objective To investigate the relationship between caspase-3 expression and apoptosis in the lung adenocarcinoma cell line A-549 that was transfected with the adenovirus-mediated FasL gene. Methods The human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A-549 was transfected with the adenovirus-mediated FasL gene. The expression of caspase-3 and apoptotic morphological changes were measured using flow cytometry and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays; the activity of caspase-3 and cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) were determined using western blot analysis. Results Expression of caspase-3 was low in the lung adenocarcinoma cell line A-549; however, transfection of the lung adenocarcinoma cells with Ad-FasL enhanced the cell expression of the caspase-3 gene and induced susceptibility to Fas/FasL-mediated apoptosis (44.08% vs., 18.15%, p < 0.01). Apoptosis showed a positive relationship with caspase-3 activity (¿ = 0.647, p<0.01). Conclusions Down-regulation of caspase-3 expression and resistance to Fas/FasL-mediated apoptosis in lung adenocarcinoma cells were found to be related to the development and progression of lung adenocarcinoma cells. FasL gene transfer may increase caspase-3 expression in lung adenocarcinoma cells and enhance their apoptosis.