The p53 protein function is essential for the maintenance of the nontumorigenic cell phenotype. Pancreatic tumor cells show a very high frequency of p53 mutation. To determine if restoration of wild type p53 function can be used to eliminate the tumorigenic phenotype in these cells, pancreatic tumor cell lines, PANC-1 and HTB80, differing in p53 status were stably transfected with exogenous wild type p53 gene. Methods: The transfection was performed using Polybrene/DMSO-Assisted Gene Transfer method. The wild type p53 gene integration into genomic DNA was detected by Southern blot and PCR. Furthermore, the expression of wild type p53 protein was detected in selected clones by immunohistochemistry and Western blot. Results: While HTB80 cell line failed to produce a stable p53 expressing clone, the PANC-1 cells produced stable lines. Following characterization of clones, the growth rate and tumorigenicity of PANC-1 wild type p53 clones were compared to the control cells. Our data showed that the expression of wild type p53 decreased the growth rate of PANC-1 cells. It was also observed that the expression of wild type p53 in PANC-1 cells suppressed its potential for tumor formation in nude mice, completely, while the parental line leads to the formation of a relatively large tumor. Conclusion: Our results suggest that gene therapy based on restoration of wild type p53 protein function in pancreatic tumor cells with high amount of mutant p53 is a feasible option in pancreatic cancer treatment.

Keywords: p53, pancreatic cancer, tumor formation

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