Apoptotic effect of apoptin gene transduction on multiple myeloma cell line

Following the first description of multiple myeloma (MM), as the second most prevalent hematologic malignancy, multiple promising advances have paved the way to increase the long-lasting complete remission for patients. In the era of the novel therapeutic approaches, the cloning of the apoptosis-inducing genes into the genome of malignant cells has attracted tremendous attention. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the anti-cancer effect of apoptin-expressing vector on multiple myeloma-derived KMM-1 cell line. In this experimental study, we constructed the lenti-viral vector expressing apoptin for transferring this gene into KMM-1 cells. Transduction efficiency and apoptin gene expression were further confirmed by flow cytometric and quantitative real-time PCR analysis, respectively. Afterwards, the anti-survival effect of over-expressed apoptin on KMM-1 cells was also evaluated by applying MTT, and trypan blue assays. The results of flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that the apoptin-expressing vector was successfully transduced into KMM-1 cells, with the transduction efficiency of more than 90%.  In addition, we found that the over-expression of apoptin, as revealed by 8-fold increase in its mRNA level, exerted a remarkable cytotoxic effect in MM cells. The resulting data declared that apoptin expression not only significantly reduced cell viability (P < 0,001) but also potently halted KMM-1 metabolic activity (P < 0.001). This study highlighted the promising anti-cancer effect of lenti-viral vector expressing apoptin in multiple myeloma that may be clinically accessible in the near future.