Uteroglobin is a secretory
protein synthesized by most epithelia, including the respiratory tract. It has strong anti-inflammatory properties that appear to be related to the inhibition of
phospholipase A2. Recent experimental evidence indicates that
uteroglobin has an inhibitory effect on the proliferation and invasion of
cancer cells. We investigated the effects of the adenovirus-
uteroglobin (ad-UG) transduction on the growth of
lung cancer cell lines, which did not express the
uteroglobin gene. Upon transduction of ad-UG, the rate of cell growth and the ability to produce colonies in soft
agar were evaluated. Cell cycle analysis, Western blot for cell cycle-related
proteins and
annexin V staining for apoptosis were carried out to see if they were associated with the changes in cell growth. All the tested
lung cancer cell lines did not express the
uteroglobin gene. The growth rates, and colony-forming ability of transformed cells, were significantly inhibited by the induction of
uteroglobin gene expression. The
DNA histogram showed that the cell fraction of the G2/M phase was increased, and this G2/M phase arrest was related to a decrease of cdk1 and
cyclin A. However, a fraction of apoptotic cells were same as the control. From these results,
uteroglobin is thought to have an inhibitory effect on the growth of
lung cancer cells. This suggests a potential role for
uteroglobin in gene therapy for
lung cancer.