Effect of Wnt-1 antisense RNA on the outgrowth of a mammary adenocarcinoma cell line expressing that oncogene.

Aims-To investigate the effect of Wnt-1 antisense RNA on the outgrowth of a mammary tumour cell line expressing that oncogene.Methods-A plasmid (pMT 70), containing Wnt-1 cDNA, was cut with appropriate enzymes and inserted into a eukaryotic expression vector (pMAMneo). A mammary tumour cell line (CAC-L153) was transfected with the expression vector and cells with the vector in sense and antisense orientation were selected.Results-Tumour cells with the expression vector in the antisense orientation had a notable reduction in expression of Wnt-1 protein and a considerable reduction in tumour outgrowth compared with controls.Conclusions-The results indicate that the Wnt-1 proto-oncogene may be a possible target for antisense therapy.