Silencing of ZNF217 gene influences the biological behavior of a human ovarian cancer cell line

Zinc-finger protein 217 (ZNF217), a candidate oncogene on 20q13.2, can lead cultured human ovarian and mammary epithelial cells to immortalization, which indicates selective expression of ZNF217 affecting 20q13 amplification during critical early stages of cancer progression. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that ZNF217 is a key factor in regulating ovarian cancer proliferation and progression. We examined the effect of the inhibition of ZNF217 expression on proliferation and invasion by establishing the ZNF217 knockdown ovarian cancer cell line using RNA interference (RNAi). Our results showed that silencing of ZNF217 resulted in the effective inhibition of ovarian cancer cell growth and invasive ability. The results suggested that ZNF217 might play a crucial role in the proliferation and invasion of ovarian cancer.     

Proteomics analysis of H-RAS-mediated oncogenic transformation in a genetically defined human ovarian cancer model

RAS is a small GTP binding protein mutated in approximately 30% human cancer. Despite its important role in the initiation and progression of human cancer, the underlying mechanism of RAS-induced human epithelial transformation remains elusive. In this study, we probe the cellular and molecular mechanisms of RAS-mediated transformation, by profiling two human ovarian epithelial cell lines. One cell line was immortalized with SV40 T/t antigens and the human catalytic subunit of telomerase (T29), while the second cell line was transformed with an additional oncogenic ras(V12) allele (T29H). In total, 32 proteins associated with RAS-mediated transformation have been identified using peptide mass fingerprinting. These protein targets are involved in several cellular pathways, including metabolism, redox balance, calcium signaling, apoptosis, and cellular methylation. One such target, the 40 kDa procaspase 4 is significantly upregulated at the protein level in RAS-transformed T29H cells, related directly to signaling through MEK, but not PI3 kinase. Cellular caspase 4 activity is, however, suppressed in the T29H cells, suggesting that the maturation process of caspase 4 is abrogated in RAS-transformed T29H cells. Consistent with this notion, transformed T29H cells were less susceptible to the toxic effects of anti-Fas antibody than were immortalized, nontransformed T29 cells, associated with less activation of caspase 4. This study demonstrates that functional proteomic analysis of a genetically defined cancer model provides a powerful approach toward systematically identifying cellular targets associated with oncogenic transformation.     

化学合成siRNA对卵巢癌SKOV3细胞中STAT3基因表达的抑制作用

目的:观察小干扰RNA(small interference RNA,siRNA)对卵巢癌SKOV3细胞STAT3表达的抑制作用及其诱导凋亡作用的机制。方法:将STAT3 siRNA经LipofectamineTM2000脂质体介导的方法将其转染到卵巢癌细胞株SKOV3。实验分为以下3组:空白对照组(未经转染的人卵巢癌SKOV3细胞)、阴性对照转染组(阴性干扰STAT3)及特异性转染组(干扰STAT3)。用MTT法检测siRNA转染后SKOV3细胞增殖活性;流式细胞仪检测其对细胞凋亡的影响,免疫荧光法检测STAT3蛋白水平的变化,qRT-PCR和Western blot方法分别检测STAT3 mRNA和蛋白表达水平的变化。结果:成功转染STAT3干扰片段,转染率达90%。siRNA干扰STAT3组明显抑制卵巢癌细胞增殖活性,细胞凋亡率33.7%,并且下调STAT3蛋白在SKOV3细胞中的表达。RT-PCR和Western blot结果显示:siRNA STAT3组明显抑制人卵巢癌细胞SKOV3中STAT3 mRNA和蛋白的表达,与对照组相比,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论:特异性转染组48h后能有效地抑制SK-OV3细胞内STAT3的表达、抑制细胞增殖,其抑制卵巢癌细胞的机制可能与抑制了STAT3信号通路,促进细胞凋亡有关,为卵巢癌的生物治疗提供了一定的依据。     

Silencing of hdm2 oncogene by siRNA inhibits p53-dependent human breast cancer

RNA interference technology is a powerful tool for silencing endogenous or exogenous genes in mammalian cells. Here our results showed that hdm2-siRNA silenced its target mRNA specifically and effectively in human breast cancer cells, reduced tumor cell proliferation and induced apoptotic cell death. Other molecular features modified by hdm2-siRNA included decreased Bcl-2, NF-kappaB, survivin, Ras and Raf levels, elevated p53, p21, BRCA1, Bax, and caspase levels as well as altered expression of other genes. hdm2-siRNA also caused cell cycle arrest at G1 phases with reduction in cyclin and Cdk proteins. In addition, hdm2-siRNA displayed in vivo antitumor activity and increased therapeutic effectiveness of mitomycin in MCF-7 xenografts. Thus, hdm2-siRNA may be a promising gene-specific drug for the treatment of human breast cancer and other tumors.     

Silencing of the IKKε gene by siRNA inhibits invasiveness and growth of breast cancer cells

Introduction  

IκB kinase ε (IKKε) is a member of the IKK family that plays an important role in the activation of NF-κB. Overexpressed in more than 30% of breast cancers, IKKε has been recently identified as a potential breast cancer oncogene. The purpose of the present study is to examine the therapeutic potential of IKKε siRNA on human breast cancer cells.     

Inhibition of H-ras expression by the adeno-associated virus Rep78 transformation suppressor gene product.

Here the adeno-associated virus Rep78 gene product was found to inhibit the expression of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase and the bladder cancer-derived EJ-H-ras coding sequences when they were under the control of the natural cellular H-ras regulatory sequences. However, Rep78 had little or no effect on the expression of these same coding sequences when they were under the control of the regulatory sequences of the murine osteosarcoma virus long terminal repeat. These data indicate that the inhibition of H-ras by Rep78 depends upon sequences present within the cellular H-ras upstream regulatory region. Furthermore, these and earlier data indicate that Rep78 functions as an "antioncogene" or transformation suppressor gene, inhibiting H-ras as well as several viral oncogenes.     

Metallothionein gene expression and resistance to cisplatin in human ovarian cancer

Intracellular thiols have been proposed as mediators of resistance to alkylating agents and cisplatin. As metallothionein is the predominant protein thiol, we examined its relationship to cisplatin resistance in human ovarian cancer cell lines. A human ovarian carcinoma cell line, A2780, derived from an untreated patient, was treated with cisplatin in several ways and the induced resistance to cisplatin ranged from 13- to 68-fold. The degree of resistance was dependent upon the method of selection. The drug-resistant cell lines also developed low levels of cross-resistance to cadmium. Additional cell lines established from untreated patients or ovarian cancer patients refractory to cisplatin- and/or carboplatin-containing combination chemotherapy were studied. The most cisplatin-resistant cell lines, OVCAR-8 and -10, were from patients previously treated with intensive chemotherapy. OVCAR-8 was relatively cross-resistant to cadmium while OVCAR-10 appeared relatively sensitive. Cell lines were examined for expression of metallothionein mRNA to evaluate the relationship between cisplatin resistance, cadmium cross-resistance and metallothionein expression. Only two of the cell lines with in vitro-induced resistance to cisplatin, 2780E80 and 2780CP70B3, had detectable metallothionein mRNA. The other cell lines selected in vitro for cisplatin resistance, as well as the parental A2780 ovarian cancer cell line, showed no expression at our level of detection. There was variable expression of metallothionein among the OVCAR cell lines. Cell lines from untreated patients, OVCAR-5 and -7, did express metallothionein, while the most cisplatin-resistant cell lines, OVCAR-8 and -10, did not. We also examined cisplatin induction of metallothionein mRNA in the cell lines. Only 2780CP70B3 among the cell lines with in vitro-induced cisplatin resistance showed increased expression after short-term exposure to cisplatin. OVCAR-4 also had a slight increase in expression after exposure to cisplatin. Mouse C127 cells transfected with a bovine papilloma virus-metallothionein gene construct were compared for cisplatin sensitivity to the same cell type transfected with bovine papilloma virus alone. In this model system, metallothionein expression did not influence cisplatin cytotoxicity. On the basis of these studies, we conclude that there is no causal relationship between metallothionein expression and cisplatin resistance.     

Silencing of the UCHL1 gene in human colorectal and ovarian cancers

Aberrant DNA methylation is associated with many types of human cancers. To identify genes silenced in human colorectal cancers, we performed a microarray analysis for genes whose expression was induced by treatment of HCT116 human colon cancer cells with a demethylating agent, 5-aza-2'-deoxycitidine (5-aza-dC). Seven known genes were identified as being upregulated (> or =8-fold) and expressed at more than twice as high as the average level. Among these was the UCHL1 gene (also known as PGP9.5), which is involved in regulation of cellular ubiquitin levels. A dense CpG island in its promoter region was completely methylated in HCT116 cells, and no mRNA was detected. 5-Aza-dC treatment of HCT116 cells induced dose-dependent demethylation of the CpG island, and restored UCHL1 mRNA and protein expression. UCHL1 silencing was observed in 11 of 12 human colorectal cancer cell lines, and its methylation was detected in 8 of 17 primary colorectal cancers. Further, UCHL1 silencing was observed in 6 of 13 ovarian cancer cell lines, and its methylation was detected in 1 of 17 primary ovarian cancers. These results showed that UCHL1 is inactivated in human colorectal and ovarian cancers by its promoter methylation, and suggest that disturbance of cellular ubiquitin levels is present.     

Silencing stathmin gene expression by survivin promoter-driven siRNA vector to reverse malignant phenotype of tumor cells

Stathmin gene overexpression has been shown to play an important role in maintenance of malignant phenotype in tumor cells, and the blocking efficacy and tumor specificity of this target has been concerned in clinical trails. In this report, we designed survivin promoter-driven siRNA eukaryotic expression vector that expressed the small interfering RNA targeting stathmin gene to selectively knock down the stathmin gene expression in two different kinds of tumor cell lines while sparing normal cell lines. The therapeutic potential of this recombinant vector was tested in human cervical cancer Hela cells and osteosarcoma SSOP-9607 cells, and in human umbilical vein endothelial cell line ECV304 cells as control. The siRNA vector- transfected Hela cells and SSOP-9607 cells revealed marked inhibition of stathmin expression and a dramatic growth inhibition comparing with ECV304 cells, parental-vector transfected cells and untransfected cells. Cell cycle analysis of siRNA vector transfected tumor cells by Flow Cytometry showed G(2)/M phase block, while morphologic analysis by TURNEL staining method showed marked increase of apoptosis. Our study indicates that survivin gene promoter-driven stathmin siRNA expression vector may have potential use in tumor gene therapy with targeted tumor gene silencing effect.     

The gene expression profile of highly metastatic human ovarian cancer cell line by gene chip

In this paper, gene chip technique was used to analyze the difference of gene expression patterns in highly metastatic human ovarian tumor cell line HO-8910PM and in normal ovarian epithelial cells to explore the tumor-associated gene-cluster and its function in the process of occurrence an development of ovarian carcinoma. It will be helpful to comprehensively understand the molecular mechanism of cell transformation, to provide the molecular markers and target genes for clinical diagnosis a…     

Silencing of heparanase by siRNA inhibits tumor metastasis and angiogenesis of human breast cancer in vitro and in vivo

Expression of the heparanase gene is associated with invasive, angiogenic and metastatic potential of diverse malignant tumors and cell lines. Here we used RNA interference strategies to evaluate the role of human heparanase in breast malignancy and to explore the therapeutic potential of its specific targeting. The siRNA targeting human heparanase almost completely inhibited the expression of heparanase in human breast carcinoma MDA-MB-435 cells, whereas the mismatched siRNA showed no effect. Cells transfected with heparanase siRNA expressed significantly less heparanase and profoundly reduced invasion and adhesion in vitro. In MDA-MB-435 cell xenograft model, tumors treated with siRNA were less vascularized and less metastatic than those treated with saline and the mismatched controls. The association of reduced levels of heparanase and altered tumorigenic properties in cells with anti-heparanase siRNA indicates that heparanase is important in cancer progress and has potential use as a target for anticancer drug development.     

Morphological transformation, focus formation, and anchorage independence induced in diploid human fibroblasts by expression of a transfected H-ras oncogene

In an attempt to determine how normal human fibroblasts respond to high expression of the T24 H-ras oncogene, we tranfected such cells with the plasmid vector pHO6T1 (D. A. Spandidos and N. M. Wilkie, Nature (Lond.), 310:469-475, 1984), containing the T24 H-ras oncogene with 5' and 3' enhancer sequences, and the aminoglycoside phosphotransferase gene which confers resistance to the drug, G418. Approximately 1.5% of the G418-resistant colonies obtained after transfection and selection consisted of cells exhibiting obvious morphological transformation; i.e., they were highly refractile and more rounded than normal fibroblasts. DNA hybridization analysis showed that the morphologically transformed cells contained the transfected T24 H-ras oncogene, and radioimmunoprecipitation analysis showed that they were expressing the T24 H-ras protein product, M, 21,000 protein. Morphologically transformed cells formed colonies in soft agar at a frequency at least 60 times higher than that of cells that had been transfected with the control plasmid containing the normal cellular H-ras gene. Cells transfected with plasmid pHO6T1 could also be identified by their ability to form distinct foci when grown to confluence in nonselective medium following transfection. This study demonstrates that normal diploid human fibroblasts in culture can be transformed by transfection with a H-ras oncogene, and that such transformation correlates with expression of the mutant Mr 21,000 protein.     

Study of the Gene Expression Profile of Human Ovarian Carcinoma by a Gene Chip

OBJECTIVE To study the difference in gene expression between human ovarian carcinoma and normal ovarian tissues, and screen the novel associated genes by cDNA microarrays.METHODS Total RNA from 10 cases of ovarian cancer and from normal ovarian tissues were extracted by a single step method. The cDNA was retro-transcribed from an equal quantity of mRNA derived from the 10 cases of ovarian carcinoma and normal ovarian tissues, followed by labeling the cDNA strands with Cy5 and Cy3 fluorescence as probes. The mixed probes were hybridized with BiostarH 8464 dot human somatic cell genes.Fluorescence signals were assessed by a ScanArray 4000 laser scanner and the images analyzed by Gene Pix Pro 3.0 software with a digital computer.RESULTS By applying the cDNA microarray we found a total of 185 genes for which expression levels differed more than 5 times comparing human ovarian carcinoma with normal ovarian epithelium. Among these genes 86 were up-regulated ＞5 times and 99 were down regulated ＜0.2.CONCLUSION The cDNA microarray technique is effective in screening the differential gene expression between human ovarian cancers and normal ovarian epithelium. It is suggested that these genes identified are related to the genesis and development of ovarian carcinoma.     

Enhancement of 5-fluorouracil cytotoxicity on human colon cancer cells by retrovirus-mediated interferon-alpha gene transfer.

Gene therapy has advantages in the treatment of a variety of disorders due to its selective expression within specific mammalian cells. Several reports documented the clinical effects of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) in management of patients with advanced colorectal carcinoma. We report for the first time, the successful transduction of human IFN-alpha gene into colon cancer cells, COLO 201 using a replication-defective retroviral vector. Retrovirus-containing supernatant from PA 317 packaging cells was used to infect colon cancer cells, COLO 201 and NIH 3T3 cells. Transient infection showed that cell proliferation and cell viability were significantly suppressed in colon cancer cells transduced with IFN-alpha gene. Moreover, IFN-alpha-transduced cells acquired less resistance to 5-FU induced apoptosis. These data demonstrate that IFN-alpha gene transfer may have a clinical application and can be combined with chemotherapy for treatment of advanced colorectal cancer.     

Rab25基因siRNA诱导人卵巢癌细胞A2780……

 目的 观察Rab25基因的小分子干扰RNA（siRNA）对肿瘤细胞的诱导凋亡作用。方法 成功构建Rab25基因的siRNA，稳定转染靶细胞，MTT法检测细胞增生率；流式细胞仪（FCM）检测细胞生长周期和细胞凋亡率；DNA琼脂糖凝胶电泳法（DNA ladder）确定凋亡。结果 细胞生长明显受到抑制，增生能力下降；阻断细胞生长于G1期（转染pSUPER／Rab25 siRNA组细胞G1期达到88.6 %）；细胞凋亡增加，转染pSUPER／Rab25 siRNA组细胞凋亡率为12.3 %，与A2780组细胞及转染空载体组细胞相比，差异有统计学意义（P＜0.01）；DNA凝胶电泳可观察到细胞凋亡特异的DNA梯形带。结论 Rab25基因的siRNA可抑制对肿瘤细胞的生长，诱导其凋亡，可为卵巢癌基因治疗开辟新途径     

Rab25基因siRNA诱导人类卵巢癌细胞A2780凋亡的实验研究

目的 观察Rab25基因的小分子干扰RNA(siRNA)对肿瘤细胞的诱导凋亡作用.方法 成功构建Rab25基因的siRNA,稳定转染靶细胞,MTT法检测细胞增生率;流式细胞仪(FCM)检测细胞生长周期和细胞凋亡率;DNA琼脂糖凝胶电泳法(DNAladder)确定凋亡.结果 细胞生长明显受到抑制,增生能力下降;阻断细胞生长于G1期(转染Psuper/Rab25 siRNA组细胞G1期达到88.6%);细胞凋亡增加,转染Psuper/Rab25 siRNA组细胞凋亡率为12.3%,与A2780组细胞及转染空载体组细胞相比,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.01);DNA凝胶电泳可观察到细胞凋亡特异的DNA梯形带.结论 Rab25基因的siRNA可抑制对肿瘤细胞的生长,诱导其凋亡,可为卵巢癌基因治疗开辟新途径.