Abstract: Objective: The wild type FHIT gene was transfected into the human gastric cancer cell line MGC-803 in which the FHIT gene had been totally lost so as to investigate its effect on Adriamycin (ADM). Methods: The FHIT gene was transfected into the gastric cancer cell line MGC-803 by liposome. Western bolt assay was employed to determine the expression of FHIT. Cancer cells which were transfected with empty vector pRcCMV and the nontransfected gastric cancer cell line MGC-803 were viewed as a control and a blank respectively. After treatment with Adriamycin, an MTT colormetric assay was applied to determine the inhibition ratio. The apoptosis and cell cycle were analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM). Results: A stable expression of FHIT protein was obtained in transfected MGC803 cells. After treatment with Adriamycin, apoptosis cells were significantly more in FHITtransfected MGC-803 cells than in control cells and blank cells (40.66% VS 13.94%, 15.81%, P＜0.01). Adriamycin-induced apoptosis can be enhanced by wild FHIT expression (P＜0.05). Before and after treatment of Adriamycin, the rates of G0/G1 phase were statistically higher in FHIT-transfected cells than in control cells (74.43% VS 56.30%, 99.27% VS 95.10%, respectively). Conclusion: The FHIT gene might be involved in apoptosis and blocks the cell cycle of gastric cancer cells. Expression of the wild FHIT gene can increase the sensitivity of gastric cancer cell line MGC-803 to Adriamycin.

Key words: Stomach neoplasms, Genes, FHIT, Adriamycin, Gene transfection, Apoptosis