Abstract: Objective To explore the effects of survivin-specific antisense oligonucleotide(ASODN) delivered via liposome on the growth and apoptosis of drug-resistant human hepatic cancer cell line SMMC-7721/ADM and the sensitivity of the cells to adriamycin(ADM).Methods SMMC-7721/ADM cells were divided into 6 groups and treated with liposome,ADM,sense oligonucleotide(SODN),SODN+ADM,400 ng/ml ASODN,and 400 ng/ml ASODN+ADM group,respectively.MTT assay was used to calculate the relative survival rates of the cells,and the changes in cell apoptosis and cycle were detected with flow cytometry.RT-PCR and Western blotting were performed to detect the expressions of survivin mRNA and protein,respectively.Results The apoptotic rate of ASODN-treated cells was much higher than that of the control cells.survivin protein expression showed no significant variation between cells treated with liposome,ADM,SODN,and SODN+ADM(P>0.05),whereas compared with these 4 groups,cells treated with 400 ng/ml ASODN and 400 ng/ml ASODN+ADM had significantly lowered survivin mRNA expression(P<0.05),without significant differences between the latter two groups(P>0.05).SMMC-7721/ADM cells cultured in the presence of ASODN and adriamycin showed significant growth inhibition in comparison with ASODN group and ADM group.Conclusion survivin-specific ASODN can enhance the sensitivity of SMMC-7721/ADM cells to ADM by depressing survivin expression in the cells,thus improves the effect of ADM chemotherapy for liver cancer.