Colony formation of soft tissue sarcoma cells is inhibited by lipid-mediated antisense oligodeoxynucleotides targeting the human mdm2 oncogene.

More than one third of human soft tissue sarcoma (STS) have elevated levels of the MDM2 oncoprotein, resulting either from gene amplification or alternate mechanisms. MDM2 functions as a negative feedback regulator of the tumor suppressor p53. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether mdm2-antisense oligodeoxyribonucleotides (AS-ODNs) can influence the growth characteristics of two MDM2-overexpressing STS cell lines (US8-93, LMS6-93) where both have heterozygous p53 non-missense mutations. Cells were treated with lipofectamine-complexed mdm2 AS-ODNs complementary to a sequence of the mdm2 cDNA initiation site in comparison to sense control ODNs. After seeding and cultivation of a defined cell number the clonogenic survival was performed. The treatment of US8-93 cells with AS-ODNs, but not with sense ODNs, decreased the number of colonies up to > 80%. Western blot analysis demonstrated a significant decreasing of MDM2 protein level in AS-ODN transfected cells indicating an AS-specific inhibition of mdm2 transcription in US8-93 cells. Additionally, an increase of the G2/M population was found. In contrast, in the LMS6-93 cells treated with AS-ODNs only a decrease in clonogenic survival up to 26%, no change in MDM2 protein level and no cell cycle alterations were seen. All these factors taken together into consideration can be suggest that lipid-mediated mdm2 AS-ODNs could be as an effective therapeutic strategy for STS with an abnormal mdm2 overexpression.