Cre-loxP-mediated bax gene activation reduces growth rate and increases sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents in human gastric cancer cells

Dysregulation of apoptosis may be closely related to the development of can cer and its chemoresistance. Overexpression of Bax, an inducer of apoptosis , has led to increased cell death in a variety of cancer cell lines. In thi s study, we investigated the effect of Bax overexpression in two gastric ca ncer cell lines, MKN-28 and MKN-45, using a Cre-loxP-mediated inducible exp ression system. After induction of bax, both cell lines showed decreased pr oliferation, partially due to increased cell death. Furthermore, Bax-expres sing MKN-28 cells were more sensitive to cisplatin. These results indicate that up-regulation of the bax gene may provide a novel strategy for the tre atment of gastric cancer.