Enhanced chemosensitivity of drug-resistant osteosarcoma cells by lentivirus-mediated Bcl-2 silencing

The Bcl-2 gene is frequently overexpressed in malignancy and is responsible for the resistance induced by chemotherapeutic drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the inhibition of Bcl-2 by lentivirus-mediated RNA interference would enhance doxorubicin cytotoxicity in the drug-resistant human osteosarcoma MG63 cells. Downregulation of Bcl-2 was confirmed by quantitative reverse transcription PCR and Western blotting. Moreover, the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax decreased due to the downregulation of Bcl-2 expression and the upregulation of Bax expression. Decreased cyclin D1 expression was also detected. Flow cytometry and MTT assays revealed that Bcl-2 knock-down increased cellular apoptosis and the MG63 cells became sensitive to doxorubicin. However, no detectable alterations in MDR1 or Bcl-xl expression were observed. Therefore, lentivirus-mediated Bcl-2 knock-down may sensitize these human osteosarcoma cells to doxorubicin and provide a potential therapeutic strategy for osteosarcoma.