Blocking PLK-1 to beat bladder cancer

Surgical removal of part of, or the entire, bladder is commonly used to treat bladder cancer, causing loss of urinary and sexual functions. Thus, novel therapeutic approaches are needed. In a study appearing online on March 10 in advance of publication in the April 1 print edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Takeshi Yuasa and colleagues from Kyoto University hospital use small interfering RNA (siRNA) technology to silence a gene that they believe to be involved in cancer progression.

The researchers have investigated the efficacy of polo like kinase-1 (PLK-1) siRNA against bladder cancer in mice. PLK-1 regulates cell division and its expression is correlated with a variety of human tumors. The authors put the siRNA into vesicles that can enter cells via their membranes to suppress the expression of PLK-1 in bladder cancer cells in a time and dose dependent fashion.

Intravesical administration of the PLK-1 inhibitor reduced cell proliferation and killed cancer cells. To validate the efficacy of the treatment in vivo, mice were implanted with bladder cancer cells, and PLK-1 siRNA prevented the growth of bladder cancer in this mouse model.

This interesting study shows that therapy to inhibit expression of PLK-1 could be an important strategy for the management of bladder cancer.

TITLE: Intravesical administration of small interfering RNA targeting PLK-1 successfully prevents the growth of bladder cancer

AUTHOR CONTACT: Takeshi Yuasa
Kyoto University Hospital, Kyoto, Japan
Phone: 81-75-751-3630; Fax: 81-75-751-3631; E-mail: pochi1217@aol.com

View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci.org/press/23043.pdf
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Journal of Clinical Investigation
10-Mar-2005