Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of lymphocytes infected by recombinant adenovirus Ad-IL-12 on the proliferation and apoptosis of ovary cancer cell SKOV3. Methods The peripheral blood lymphocytes were infected by recombinant adenovirus Ad-IL-12 and Ad-GFP for 48 h respectively.The SKOV3 cells was co-cultured with lymphocytes infected with Ad-IL-12 (SKOV3/Ad-IL-12) and lymphocytes infected with Ad-GFP (SKOV3/Ad-GFP) separately, and the untreated cells (SKOV3) were set as another control. IL-12 double-subunits (P35, P40) mRNA expressions were tested by RT-PCR and the levels of IL-12P70 protein in the cell culture supernatant were detected with ELISA. The proliferation potential of SKOV3 was assessed by CCK8 assay, flow cytometry was used to detect the cell cycle and cellular apoptosis, RT-PCR and Western blot were used to detect the expression of BCL-2 and Survivin. Results The human recombinant adenovirus Ad-IL-12 could successfully infect the human peripheral blood lymphocytes and effectively secret IL-12P70 proteins; growth ability of SKOV3 cells (SKOV3/Ad-IL-12) was significantly inhibited (P<0.05). In addition, the percentages of SKOV3 cells in the G1 phase and the apoptosis (SKOV3/Ad-IL-12) were increased Significantly(P<0.05), the expression of BCL-2 and Survivin were down-regulated（P<0.05）. Conclusions The human recombinant adenovirus Ad-IL-12 could infect the human peripheral blood lymphocytes and express the IL-12 P70 protein successfully, which could inhibit the proliferation of SKOV3 cells by blocking cell cycle and inducing apoptosis.

Key words: Ad-IL-12, human ovary cancer cells SKOV3, proliferation, apoptosis