Survivin knockdown combined with apoptin overexpression inhibits cell growth significantly

The initiation and progression of tumor is regulated by multiple genes. Survivin belongs to the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family and is overexpressed in most types of human tumors. Apoptin, originally identified from chicken anemia virus (CAV), can specifically induce apoptosis of human tumor cells rather than normal cells. In this study, survivin expression was silenced by microRNA (miRNA)-mediated RNA interference (RNAi); meanwhile, the engineered miRNA vector was also designed to express apoptin gene. The apoptosis and cell growth were then examined by flow cytometry and MTT assay. The miRNA-mediated knockdown of survivin in combination with apoptin overexpression significantly induced apoptosis and inhibited cell growth. Importantly, the combined strategy was more effective on inducing apoptosis and inhibiting cell growth than either survivin downregulation or apoptin overexpression alone. Taken together, the combined strategy offers potential advantages in control of tumorigenesis, and thus deserves further research as a preferred approach in cancer gene therapy.