Abstract: Objective In previous study,we have confirmed that BT325 glioblastoma underwent more severe apoptosis than U251 glioblastoma under the same apotosis inductive conditions.In order to find some explication,we planned to extract the total protein from BT325 and U251 glioblastoma cells cultured in vitro,and investigate the expression of apoptosis-related factors of these glioblastomas.Methods Fas,caspase-3,caspase-7,survivin and livin expressed by BT325 and U251 glioblastomas were investigated by Western blot.Results There were no significant difference between the expression levels of Fas of BT325 glioblastoma and U251 glioblastoma.Both caspase-3 and caspase-7 were expressed in BT325 glioblastoma,and only caspase-3 expressed in U251 glioblastoma.In addition,the expression level of caspase-3 in U251 glioblastoma was lower than that of BT325 glioblastoma.Livin is a new family member of IAP,which was discovered recently.It can combined with the activated executive factors of the downstream apoptosis signaling cascades such as caspase-3 and caspase-7 and restraining their activity,so inhibit apoptosis.Survivin is a family member of IAP with the minimal molecular weight,and also it is the strongest inhibit factor of apoptosis discovered up to now.In the test,we found survivin and livin were expressed significantly in U251 glioblastoma simultaneously,whereas only livin was expressed in BT325 glioblastoma,besides,its expression level was lower than that in U251 glioblastoma.Conclusion Apoptotic effector expressed significantly in BT325 glioblastoma and apoptotic inhibitor expressed significantly in U251.

Key words: glioma, apoptosis, survivin, livin