Abstract
Avoidance of apoptosis is an important event of tumourigenesis. Tumour progression is dependent on balance between cell proliferation and apoptosis. The present study was carried out to evaluate apoptosis in N-methyl nitrosourea (NMU) induced rat mammary tumours by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labelling (TUNEL) assay in correlation with caspase-3 and PCNA immunostaining. A total of 22 female virgin Wistar rats of 28–30 days of age were selected for the experiment. NMU was injected at 50th, 80th and 110th days of age in 16 rats and 6 control group rats received the vehicle only. Six numbers of mammary tumours were successfully induced in 4 (25%) rats with average latency period of 87±2.63 days. The mean counts of PCNA and caspase-3 immunostaining were 57.67±9.45 and 1.82±0.21, respectively. The mean count of the TUNEL positive cells were 2.44±0.69. It was observed that apoptosis was evident by TUNEL assay and caspase-3 immunostaining in highly proliferative and more aggressive NMU induced rat mammary tumours, similar to that observed in human breast tumours.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
