Effect of vascular endothelial growth factor siRNA and wild-type p53 co-expressing plasmid in MDA-MB-231 cells

Breast cancer urgently requires improved therapeutic strategies. In the current study, a Pvp53 plasmid that co-expressed p53 and short-interfering RNA against vascular endothelial growth factor (si-VEGF) was developed to replace single plasmid transfections. Whether Pvp53 exhibited improved anti-tumor effects in breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells was investigated in the present study. Pvp53 significantly reduced the Bcl-2/Bax ratio and increased the expression of cleaved caspase-3 and 8. Compared with p53 and si-VEGF single transfections, the Pvp53 co-expression plasmid significantly increased the proportion of apoptotic cells and inhibited cell motility and proliferation. These results indicated that the Pvp53 co-expression plasmid has greater inhibitory effects on breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells than single plasmids.