RESUMO
Objective To evaluate the effects of angiostatin on vascular endothelial growth factor expression in human tongue squamous cell carcinoma cells.Methods Subcutaneous xenografts of human tongue squamous cell carcinoma(Tca8113)cell line in BALB/c nude mice were employed and eighteen mice were randomly divided into three groups(6 mice each):the PBS group injected with PBS,the AS group injected with 250 ng purified angiostatin,and the AS group injected with 30 ?g purified angiostatin.Reagents were injected intraperitoneally twice daily and tumor volume was calculated twice weekly for 21 d,then animals were sacrificed and each tumor specimen was divided into two parts after surgical resection.The first part was submitted to both immunocytochemistry for VEGF,VEGFR1,VEGFR2 and CD34,and TUNEL apoptosis assay.The second part was prepared for semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of VEGF,VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 mRNA abundance.Results There was an increase of apoptotic index(AI)(P