Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of telomerase antisense oligodeoxynucleotides(ODNs) on the growth of human malignant glioma cells.Methods Human malignant glioma cells were treated with antisense phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotides complementary to the template region of human telomerase RNA(hTR).Cell proliferation was assessed using MTT method.Cell apoptosis was detected by TUNEL.Telomerase activity was detected by telomerase repeat amplification protocol(TRAP) assay.(Results Telomerase) activity and cell growth of glioma cells were suppressed significantly by telomerase antisense oligodeoxynucleotides compared with control group(P<0.05).The proliferation index decreased from 0.46 to 0.25 after 96 h treatment.Telomerase antisense oligodeoxynucleotides also induced cell growth arrest in G₀/G₁ phase significantly,with reduced cell fractions in S phase and G₂/M phase.Results also show that percentage of cells undergoing apoptosis was 10.5 after telomerase antisense oligodeoxynucleotides treatment for 96 h.Conclusion Results suggest that telomerase antisense oligodeoxynucleotides can significantly suppress the telomerase activity,inhibit cell growth and cell proliferation,and induce apoptosis in glioma cells.Telomerase antisense oligodeoxynucleotides are potential therapeutic agents for glioma.

Key words: glioma, telomerase, antisense oligodeoxynucleotide, apoptosis