Clinical significance of KLF15 expression in human lung adenocarcinoma

AIM: To explore the clinical significance of Krüpple-like factor 15 (KLF15) protein expression in the patients with lung adenocarcinoma for exploring the therapeutic and prognositic biomarkers of lung cancer. METHODS: Four cases of lung adenocarcinoma tissues and matched adjacent tissues were collected from our hospital, and the expression of KLF15 protein in these tissues was analyzed by Western blot. At the same time, 72 cases of archived paraffin-embedded samples and clinical data of the patients with lung adenocarcinoma were also collected. The KLF15 protein expression in the archived paraffin-embedded lung adenocarcinoma samples was detected by immunohistochemical staining. The correlations between KLF15 protein expression and clinical characteristics of the patients including prognosis were also analyzed. In addition, the KLF15 protein was up-regulated in A549 cells, and then the effects of KLF15 protein on the viability of the cells were measured by CCK-8 assay. RESULTS: The protein expression of KLF15 in the 4 cases of lung adenocarcinoma tissues was significantly lower than that in matched paracancerous tissues. Fifty-three cases of lung adenocarcinoma specimens showed low expression or no expression of KLF15 protein in total 72 cases (73.6%). The 5-year survival rate of the patients with high expression of KLF15 protein in their specimens was higher than that of the patients with the low expression of KLF15 protein (P<0.01), and the expression of KLF15 protein was significantly correlated with the pathological staging (P<0.01) and T stage (P<0.01) of the patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Furthermore, the low expression of KLF15 protein was an important poor prognostic indicator of the patients. Up-regulation of KLF15 protein in the A549 cells significantly inhibited the growth of the cells. CONCLUSION: KLF15 inhibits the growth of lung adenocarcinoma cells. It could be used as a therapeutic target and a prognostic biomarker for the patients with lung adenocarcinoma.     

Effect of HMGB2 on cell cycle and proliferation of lung adenocarcinoma

AIM: To investigate the effect of high-mobility group protein B2 (HMGB2) on cell cycle and proliferation of lung adenocarcinoma cells. METHODS: Cancer RNA-Seq Nexus (CRN) was used to analyze HMGB2 expression in lung adenocarcinoma tissues. OncoLnc was used to analyze the correlation between HMGB2 and prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma patients. Cancer Single-cell State Atlas (CancerSEA) was used to analyze the correlation between HMGB2 and 14 kinds of functional states of lung adenocarcinoma. siRNA was used to inhibit HMGB2 expression in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells. The silencing effects were verified by real-time PCR and Western blot, and the cell proliferation was detected by CCK8 and EdU assays. RESULTS: HMGB2 was over-expressed in the lung adenocarcinoma tissues. The overall survival of the patients with lung adenocarcinoma in HMGB2 high expression group was significantly lower than that of the patients with low expression of HMGB2 (log-rank test P=0.017 3). HMGB2 expression was positively correlated with cell cycle and proliferation of lung adenocarcinoma cells. The viability and proliferation ability of A549 cells after HMGB2 expression knock-down were significantly reduced (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The expression of HMGB2 is positively correlated with the cell cycle and proliferation of lung adenocarcinoma, and it can be used as a potential marker for evaluating the prognosis and therapeutic target of patients with lung adenocarcinoma.     

Significance of TRPM8 protein expression in lung adenocarcinoma

AIM To investigate the significance of transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M member 8 （TRPM8） protein expression in lung adenocarcinoma. METHODS The tumor samples from 112 cases of patients with lung adenocarcinoma were collected in our hospital， and 4~5 years of follow-up was conducted. The protein expression of TRPM8 was analyzed by immunohistochemical staining， and the correlations between the TRPM8 protein expression and the clinical characteristics including prognosis of the patients with lung adenocarcinoma were investigated. After TRPM8 protein expression was up-regulated in A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells by lentiviral infection， the proliferation of A549 cells was analyzed by CCK-8 assay and colony formation assay， the cell cycle and apoptosis were analyzed by flow cytometry， and the migration and invasion abilities of the cells were measured by scratch experiment and Transwell assay. The TRPM8 protein expression was stably up-regulated in H1299 cells by lentiviral infection， and then the left and right buttocks of the immunodeficient mice were subcutaneously injected with empty vector control cells and TRPM8-overexpressing cells， respectively. The effects of TRPM8 on the growth of H1299 cell-derived xenograft tumor in immunodeficient mice were evaluated. RESULTS The 4~5-year survival rate in the patients with high TRPM8 protein expression was significantly higher than that in the patients with low expression of TRPM8 protein （P=0.017）. The tumor maximum diameter in the patients with high TRPM8 protein expression was significantly smaller than that in the patients with low TRPM8 protein expression （P=0.028）. The viability， the number of colonies and the migration and invasion abilities of TRPM8-overexpressing A549 cells were significantly decreased as compared with empty vector and parental cells （P<0.01）. The results of flow cytometry analysis showed that the proportion of A549 cells at S stage was significantly increased in TRPM8 overexpression group as compared with empty vector group （P<0.01）. The growth rate and the weight of TRPM8-overexpressing H1299 cell-derived xenograft tumor in immunodeficient mice were significantly lower than those in empty vector group （P<0.01）. CONCLUSION TPRM8 is a tumor suppressor in lung adenocarcinoma， and low expression of TRPM8 protein was a poor prognositic indicator of patients with lung adenocarcinoma.     

Expression of miRNA-181a in human lung adenocarcinoma cells and its effect on cell function

AIM: To study the expression of microRNA (miRNA)-181a in different human lung adenocarcinoma cell lines, and to investigate the effect of miRNA-181a on cell function and its mechanism in human lung adenocarcinoma drug resistant cell A549/DDP. METHODS: Real-time PCR was used to detect the expression of miRNA-181a in BEAS-2B cells, A549 cells and A549/DDP cells. The A549/DDP cells were transfected with pGenesil-miRNA-181a eukaryotic expression plasmid. At the same time, the untransfection group and negative transfection group were also set up. The expression of miRNA-181a, cell viability, cell growth inhibition and apoptosis rate during cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (DDP) treatment, cell cycle, cell invasion, the protein expression of miRNA-181a target genes bcl-2 and p53 in the A549/DDP cells were determined by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR, MTT assay, flow cytometry, Transwell method and Western blot, respectivly. RESULTS: The expression of miRNA-181a in A549 cells and A549/DDP cells was significantly lower than that in BEAS-2B cells, and the lowest expression level was observed in A549/DDP cells (P<0.05). The expression of miRNA-181a in A549/DDP cells was significantly increased after transfection with pGenesil-miRNA-181a (P<0.05). The cell viability, cell cycle and invasion ability of the A549/DDP cells were inhibited after miRNA-181a transfection (P<0.05). The cell growth inhibition rate and apoptotic rate of the A549/DDP cells were increased (P<0.05). The expression of Bcl-2 was reduced, but the expression of P53 was increased after transfection with miRNA-181a in A549/DDP cells (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: miRNA-181a may be correlated with the development of human lung adenocarcinoma. miRNA-181a can serve as a new target for treatment of lung cancer.     

Role of BAG2 gene in A549 cell proliferation and its clinical implications

AIM: To investigate the role of Bcl-2-associated athanogene 2 (BAG2) in the proliferation of human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells and its clinical implications. METHODS: The abundance of BAG2 protein in A549 and lung bronchial epithelium (HBE) cells were measured by Western blot. After down-regulation of BAG2 by transfection of siRNA in A549 cells, the expression of cell proliferation and cell cycle related proteins were detected by CFSE assay, WST-1 assay and Western blot, respectively. Moreover, the expression of BAG2 in cDNA array which contained 10 pairs of lung cancer and adjacent tissue was verified. Meanwhile, BAG2 expression in GEO database, which included the human lung cancer and adjacent tissue microarray data was analyzed. The prognosis power of BAG2 was evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis. RESULTS: BAG2 had remarkably higher expression level in A549 cells than that in HBE cells. Knockdown of BAG2 resulted in significantly inhibition of proliferation in A549 cells, accompany with the significantly down-regulation of cyclin B1 and cyclin E1. BAG2 was over-expressed in the lung cancer tissues, as compared with the adjacent normal tissues. Kaplan-Meier plotter and cDNA microarray results showed that patients with higher BAG2 expression were significantly associated with poorer survival. CONCLUSION: The BAG2 gene tends to regulate A549 cells proliferation via cyclin B1 and cyclin E1. BAG2 has significantly prognostic power on the survival of lung cancer patients.     

Expression of PLIN3 in lung adenocarcinoma and its correlation with prognosis

AIM To explore the expression of perilipin 3（PLIN3） in lung adenocarcinoma and the relationship between the prognosis of patients and the invasiveness of lung adenocarcinoma cells. METHODS HPA database was used to predict the genes related to poor prognosis of lung cancer and PLIN3 was selected as the research object.HPA database was used to analyze the correlation between PLIN3 and survival rate of lung cancer and lung adenocarcinoma.GEPIA database was used to further verify the correlation between the expression difference of PLIN3 and the survival rate of lung adenocarcinoma patients. The expression of PLIN3 in lung adenocarcinoma was further analyzed by using Ualcan database.Western blot was used to detect the expression of PLIN3 in lung adenocarcinoma cells.siPLIN3 plasmid was constructured and Transwell assay was used to detect the invasion ability of A549 cells after transfection. RESULTS PLIN3 was significantly related to the survival rate of the patients with lung adenocarcinoma and it was over-expressed in lung adenocarcinoma tissues.The expression of PLIN3 was closely related to the stages of cancer and the grades of lymph node metastasis of lung adenocarcinoma.PLIN3 was over-expressed in lung adenocarcinoma cells. The number of the A549 cells passing through Transwell in knock-down group was significantly lower than that in control group. CONCLUSION PLIN3 is highly expressed in lung adenocarcinoma. The expression level of PLIN3 is related to the prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma patients.Knock-down of PLIN3 inhibits the invasion ability of lung adenocarcinoma cells in vitro.     

Knock-down of NEDD1 expression inhibits lung adenocarcinoma cell proliferation and migration

AIM: To explore the role of neural precursor cell expression developmentally down-regulated protein 1 (NEDD1) in the development and progression of lung cancer. METHODS: The differences of NEDD1 expression levels between lung cancer tissues and tumor-adjacent tissues were analyzed by the method of immunohistochemistry and TCGA database. Kaplan-Meier curve was used to analyze the correlation between lung cancer prognosis and the expression level of NEDD1. The proliferation of A549 cells was tested by plate colony formation experiment after knock-down of NEDD1 expression. The apoptosis rate and cell cycle distribution were examined by flow cytometry. The migration ability of the A549 cells was detected by Transwell assay. The protein levels of cell cycle-related molecules were determined by Western blot. Database analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between the expression of NEDD1 and cyclin-dependent kinases 2 (CDK2). RESULTS: Compared with the tumor-adjacent tissues, the expression level of NEDD1 in the lung cancer tissues was increased, so as the database analysis, and the higher expression of NEDD1 showed a poorer prognosis. Under light microscope, the A549 cells showed a low proliferation rate after silencing the NEDD1 expression, and the colony formation ability of the cells was also reduced; knock-down of NEDD1 expression induced the apoptosis and inhibited the cell migration; knock-down of NEDD1 expression blocked the cells in G₁/S phase, and the protein levels of p-Rb and cyclinD1 were decreased, while the protein levels of p-Chk1, p-Chk2 and p-p53 were increased (P<0.05). A positive correlation between the expression of NEDD1 and CDK2 was noted by database analysis. CONCLUSION: NEDD1 plays an crucial role in promoting cell proliferation via inhibiting apoptosis and accelerating cell cycle, high expression of NEDD1 in lung adenocarcinoma tissue is related to poor prognosis, thus NEDD1 may be used as a candidate marker molecule for the diagnosis and prognosis of lung cancer.     

Differential proteomic analysis of human lung adenocarcinoma cell line and bronchial epithelium cell line

AIM: The comparative analysis of total proteins expressed differentially between adenocarcinoma cell line A549 (a human lung adenocarcinoma) and normal cell line HBE (a human lung bronchial epithelium) was conducted to search the proteins involved in tumorigenesis and potential biomarkers of diagnosis or prognosis. METHODS: The proteins of dramatic differential expression were screened in adenocarcinoma cell Line A549 and normal cell line HBE by using immobilized pH gradient-two dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis combined with MALDI-TOF/TOF tandem mass spectrometry. Furthermore, the differential expressed proteins were confirmed by the method of Western blotting. RESULTS: Compared with the two cell lines, 21 differential expressed proteins were found and their functions involves in cell metabolism, protein modification, cell motility, protein trafficking and signal transduction. The up-regulation of heat shock protein beta-1 (HSPB1) in A549 cells was identified and confirmed. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that dramatic differential proteomic expression exists between the two cell lines. The high level of HSPB1 might play an important role in the process of tumorigenesis.     

Celastrol blocks cell cycle of A549 cells by regulating miR-17-5p/miR-155-5p and targeting cyclin D1

AIM: To investigate the effect of celastrol on the cell cycle of human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells and to probe into its mechanisms.METHODS: A549 cells were exposed to celastrol at gradient concentrations. The cell viability and apoptosis were detected by MTT assay and flow cytometry, respectively, and the median lethal concentration (LC₅₀) of celastrol was screened. The A549 cells were treated with celastrol at LC₅₀, and the cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry. The expression of cyclin D1 was determined by Western blot, and the expression of microRNA (miR)-17-5p and miR-155-5p was detected by real-time PCR. The correlation between cyclin D1 and miR-17-5p or miR-155-5p was predicted by bioinformatics software. After miR-17-5p mimics/miR-155-5p mimics/mutant-miR-17-5p/mutant-miR-155-5p and pcDNA-GFP-cyclin D1-3'UTR were cotransfected into the A549 cells, the changes of GFP expression were evaluated by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Finally, after miR-17-5p mimics or miR-155-5p mimics were transfeced into the A549 cells, the expression of miR-17-5p and miR-155-5p was detected by real-time PCR, and the protein level of cyclin D1 was determined by Western blot. RESULTS: With the increasing concentration of celastrol, the viability inhibition rate and apoptotic rate of the A549 cells were increased, indicating that celastrol effectively inhibited the growth of A549 cells and induced apoptosis. The LC₅₀ of celastrol was almost 3 μmol/L. After treatment with celastrol at LC₅₀, the A549 cell cycle was arrested at G₁ phase, the protein expression of cyclin D1 was down-regulated (P<0.01), and the expression levels of miR-17-5p and miR-155-5p were significantly increased (P<0.01). The results of bioinformatics software prediction indicated that there were binding sites for miR-17-5p and miR-155-5p in the 3'-UTR of cyclin D1. After cotransfected with miR-17-5p or miR-155-5p and pcDNA-GFP-cyclin D1-3'UTR into the A549 cells, the expression of GFP declined (P<0.05). After miR-17-5p or miR-155-5p mimics were transfected into A549 cells, the results of real-time PCR showed this treatment significantly increased the miRNA expression (P<0.01), and the results of Western blot showed the transfection inhibited cyclin D1 expression (P<0.01).CONCLUSION: Celastrol blocks the A549 cells at G₁ phase, inhibits the viability and induces apoptosis, which may be caused by up-regulating the expression of miR-17-5p and miR-155-5p, and then down-regulating cyclin D1 expression. This study provides a new theoretical basis for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer with celastrol.     

miR-134 regulates cisplatin resistance of human lung adenocarcinoma cells

AIM: To investigate the roles of microRNA-134 (miR-134) in the cisplatin resistance of lung adenocarcinoma cells. METHODS: miRNA microarray was applied to compare the miRNA expression profile between A549/CDDP and A549 cells. Real-time PCR was used to confirm the expression of miR-134. miR-134 mimics and inhibitors were transfected into A549/CDDP and A549 cells, respectively. MTT assay was used to detect the sensitivity of lung cancer cells to cisplatin. Western blot was applied to test whether miR-134 regulated forkhead box protein M1 (FOXM1) and multidrug-associated protein 1 (MRP1) expression. RESULTS: Based on the data of miRNA microarray, 13 miRNAs were found to be differentially expressed in A549/CDDP cells compared with A549 cells, among which miR-134 was the most significantly down-regulated one. Compared with control group, A549/CDDP cells transfected with miR-134 mimics showed greatly enhanced sensitivity to cisplatin as indicated by IC₅₀ values (P<0.01). In contrast, suppression of the miR-134 level in the A549 cells resulted in a decreased sensitivity to cisplatin (P<0.01). FOXM1 siRNA down-regulated the protein levels of FOXM1. A549/CDDP cells transfected with si-FOXM1 showed enhanced sensitivity to cisplatin (P<0.01). In addition, the result of Western blot showed that miR-134 repressed MRP1 protein expression. CONCLUSION: miR-134 effectively increases the sensitivity of lung adenocarcinoma cells to cisplatin, and this effect of miR-134 may be partly due to its regulation of FOXM1 and MRP1 expression.     

lncRNA TTN-AS1 regulates the viability and invasion of lung adenocarcinoma A549 cell via miR-519d-3p/MMP2 pathway

AIM To investigate the expression level of long noncoding RNA （lncRNA） TTN antisense RNA 1 （TTN-AS1） in lung adenocarcinoma tissues and the effects of TTN-AS1 silencing on the viability and invasion of lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells. METHODS RT-qPCR was used to detect the expression of TTN-AS1， microRNA-519d-3p （miR-519d-3p） and matrix metalloproteinase 2 （MMP2） mRNA in 32 cases of lung adenocarcinoma and adjacent normal tissues. The untransfected A549 cells were divided into blank group， si-NC group （with si-NC transfection） and si-lncRNA group （with silencing of lncRNA TTN-AS1 expression）， with n=5 in each group. The effects of TTN-AS1 silencing on the viability and invasion of A549 cells were detected by CCK8 and Transwell methods. The targeting regulatory effects of TTN-AS1 on miR-519d-3p and miR-519d-3p on MMP2 were determined by dual-luciferase reporter assay， RNA immunoprecipitation test， RT-qPCR and Western blot. RESULTS The expression level of TTN-AS1 in 32 cases of lung adenocarcinoma tissues is notably higher than that in the adjacent normal tissues （P<0.05）. Silencing of TTN-AS1 in A549 cells significantly suppressed the cell viability and invasion. TTN-AS1 negatively regulated the expression of miR-519d-3p via sponging and absorbing miR-519d-3p. MMP2 is the target gene of miR-519d-3p and can be negatively regulated by miR-519d-3p. Overexpression of MMP2 partially reversed the inhibitory effect of TTN-AS1 silencing and miR-519d-3p overexpression on the invasion of A549 cells. CONCLUSION The lncRNA TTN-AS1 is overexpressed in lung adenocarcinoma tissues， and it regulates lung adenocarcinoma A549 cell viability and invasion via miR-519d-3p/MMP2 pathway.     

Effect of siRNA for survivin gene on growth and apoptosis in A549 cells

AIM:To observe the influence of lentiviral vectors expressing siRNA for survivin gene knockdown in A549 cells, sequentially as tools to explore the molecule pathogenesis and new gene therapy of lung adenocarcinoma. METHODS:The lentiviral vectors, which express survivin siRNA, were constructed and transfected into A549 cell strain. The titers of the lentiviruses were determined by 293T cells. The expressions of survivin and caspase-3 were detected by Western blotting and RT-PCR. The cell cycle and cell growth of A549 cells were examined by MTT and FCM．RESULTS:The expression of survivin was suppressed effectively by siRNA targeting survivin. The expression of survivin mRNA decreased by 97%. The expression of survivin protein decreased by 94%. The rate of cell growth was decreased. The G1 phase cells were increased, whereas S phase cells were decreased. CONCLUSION:The lentivirus vectors expressing siRNA for survivin can significantly inhibit gene expression and the cell growth, and markedly induce the apoptosis. It is hopeful to be a new gene therapy of lung adenocarcinoma.     

Antisense nucleic acid of K-ras inhibits growth of lung adenocarcinoma cancer cell A549

AIM: To explore the mechanism of inhibiting lung adenocarcinoma cancer mediated by antisense nucleic acid of K-ras.METHODS: The expression of K-ras was detected in A549 cells and 6 lung adenocarinoma samples. The antisense expression vector of K-ras was successfully constucted (named antisense- K-ras-pcDNA3.1). After transfection, the growth curve and Apoptosis were determined by MTT assay and Annexin V staining, respectively. Cyclin A, cyclin D1, cyclin E, CDK2, CDK4, P53, Rb and caspase-3 were detected by Western blotting. RESULTS: K-ras was highly expressed in 4 samples of lung adenocarcinoma and A549 cells. In A549 cells transfected with antisense nucleic acid of K-ras, the cell growth was significantly inhibited and the apoptosis was visible.The expression levels of cyclin A, cyclin D1, cyclin E, CDK2 and CDK4 were significantly decreased, and the expression levels of P53, Rb and caspase-3 were significantly increased. CONCLUSION: The growth inhibition in A549 cells mediated by antisense nucleic acid of K-ras is related to the decreases in the expression of cyclin A, cyclin D1, cyclin E, CDK2 and CKD4 , and the increases in the expression of P53, Rb and caspase-3.     

Effect of luteolin on TGF-β1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition in lung cancer A549 cells

AIM:To investigate the effects of luteolin on the invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) induced by transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) in lung cancer A549 cells. METHODS:The effect of luteolin at 5, 10, 20, 40, 80 and 160 μmol/L on the viability of A549 cells was measured by MTT assay. The invasion ability was analyzed by Transwell method. The morphological changes of the A549 cells were observed under microscope.The protein expression of E-cadherin and vimentin in the A549 cells were determined by Western blot. RESULTS:The viability of the A549 cells was significantly inhibited by luteolin in a dose-time dependent manner (P<0.05). The IC₅₀ of luteolin for the A549 cells (24 h) was 68.79 μmol/L, while that (48 h) was 47.86 μmol/L. TGF-β1 induced morphological alteration of the A549 cells from epithelial to mesenchymal forms. Luteolin significantly inhibited TGF-β1-induced invasion of the A549 cells (P<0.01). The protein expression of E-cadherin was significantly down-regulated and the protein expression of vimentin was significantly up-regulated in the presence of TGF-β1 at 5 μg/L (P<0.01). However, luteolin reversed TGF-β1-induced EMT, up-regulation of E-cadherin and down-regulation of vimentin (P<0.01). CONCLUSION:Lu-teolin reverses TGF-β1-induced EMT in the lung cancer A549 cells.     

Sodium glycididazole combined with cisplatin efficiently promotes p21 expression in lung adenocarcinoma

AIM:To investigate the effect of sodium glycididazole (CMNa) on the sensitivity of lung adenocarcinoma to cisplatin. METHODS:The microarray data of human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells treated with cisplatin from NCBI public database were reanalyzed for searching the genes with significantly differential expression. The A549 cells were used in the study and treated with CMNa+cisplatin. The expression levels of the verified candidate genes from database searching were detected by real-time PCR. The role of CMNa in the expression of p21 and its upstream target p53 was also determined. RESULTS:A list of candidate genes from the microarray dataanalysis was obtained, in which p21 was verified in A549 cell line treated with cisplatin by database searching and analyzing. A549 cells were treated with CMNa and cisplatin, and p21 expression was enhanced in the cells treated with CMNa+cisplatin but not CMNa alone. In addition, enhanced p21 expression in A549 cells treated with CMNa+cisplatin was mediated by promotion of the upstream p53 level. CONCLUSION:CMNa co-operates with cisplatin to improve p21 expression in human lung adenocarcinoma, which is mediated through enhancement of the p21 upstream target p53, indicating another new insight of CMNa function in radiosensitivity of human lung adenocarcinoma.     

Effect of antisense RNA targeting Polo-like kinase 1 on cell growth in A549 lung cancer cells

AIM: To investigate the effect of Polo-like kinase-1 (Plk1) depletion on cell cycle progression and cell growth in lung cancer cells.METHODS: A recombinant plasmid containing antisense RNA targeting Plk1 (pcDNA3-Plk1) was transfected into A549 cells by lipofectine. RT-PCR and Western blotting were used to examine Plk1 gene expression. Cell proliferation was evaluated by cell counting and BrdU labeling. Cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were examined by flow cytometry. Inhibition rate (IR) of vinorebline (NVB) was determined by MTT assay. RESULTS: After transfected with pcDNA3-Plk1 into A549 cells, the expression levels of Plk1 mRNA and protein were greatly decreased. Abnormal morphological changes of cells and growth inhibition were observed in pcDNA3-Plk1 transfected cells. The BrdU labeling index was significantly lower than that in control group (P<0.05). Cells showed a strong G₂/M arrest and apoptosis 72 h post transfection. IR of vinorebline in pcDNA3-Plk1 transfected groups was significantly higher than that in other groups. CONCLUSION: Antisense RNA targeting Plk1 is capable of suppressing Plk1 expression, and therefore, significantly inhibits cellular proliferation, induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Moreover, the sensitivity of lung cancer cells to chemotherapy is increased.     

CD147 monoclonal antibody-mediated nanoparticles for gene therapy to target lung cancer cells

AIM: In this study, CD147 antibody was used to carry out targeted modification of nanoparticles for protein kinase Cε (PKCε)-siRNA gene therapy to target lung cancer cells. The inhibitory effects of the nanoparticles on the proliferation and invasion of the lung cancer cells were observed. METHODS: The magnetic nanoparticles targeting CD147 protein were assembled as gene vector. The expression of CD147 in the lung cancer cells was observed under laser scanning confocal microscope. The cells were divided into CP group, CN group and LP group as the experimental groups. Targeted nanoparticles were used as CA group. Non-transfected cells were used as control group. The cell transfection was carried out with 250 ng plasmids/well in 6-well plate. The effect of nanocontrast agent on the cell endocytosis was observed under laser scanning confocal microscope. The mRNA expression of PKCε was detected by RT-qPCR. The protein expression of Ki67, MMP3, PKCε, Wnt1 and GAPDH was determined by Western blot. The cell proliferation ability was detected with colony formation assay. The cell invasion ability was detected by Transwell method. RESULTS: The expression of CD147 protein in the human lung cancer A549 cells was confirmed by immunofluorescence staining. The endocytosis of siRNA into the A549 cells in CP group was observed with the highest efficiency as compared with CN group and LP group. The relative mRNA expression of PKCε in the A549 cells of CP group, CN group, LP group and CA group were (9.76±0.18)%, (98.51±0.32)%, (99.17±0.16)% and (99.68±0.11)%, respectively. The difference between CP group and control group was statistically significant (P<0.05). No significant difference among CN group, LP group and control group was observed. The protein expression of PKCε, Ki-67, MMP3 and Wnt1 in CP group was significantly reduced, and the protein expression levels among CN group, LP group and control group had no significant difference. The colony number in CP group was significantly smaller than that in control group (P<0.05). The effective colony numbers in CN group, LP group and CA group had no significant difference as compared with control group. The number of the invading cells in CP group was significantly less than that in control group (P<0.05). The numbers of the invading cells in CN group, LP group and CA group had no significant difference as compared with control group. CONCLUSION: Nanogene vector targeting CD147 can carry PKCε-siRNA to conduct gene therapy efficiently on the lung cancer cells to achieve effective inhibitory effects on the proliferation and invasion of the lung cancer cells.     

Inhibitory effects of nm23-H1 gene on proliferation and invasion of A549 cell line

AIM:To study the inhibitory effects of nm23-H1 gene on proliferation and invasion of human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cell line. METHODS:Recombinant eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3.1-nm23-H1 containing full length of human nm23-H1 cDNA was constructed and transfected into a human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cell line by lipofectamine. Cell strain that expressed nm23-H1 stably was screened out by G418 and named pcDNA-nm23-A549. Expression of nm23-H1 was identified by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. Growth curves were drawn to detect the inhibitory effects on cell proliferation. Cell cycle of pcDNA-nm23-A549 was examined by flow cytometry. Atomic force microscopy was used to observe the filopodia on the surface of the cells. RESULTS:Introduction of nm23-H1 obviously inhibited the proliferation of A549. Expression of nm23-H1 did not induce apotosis in A549 cells but increased the percentage of phase G₁ cells and decreased phase S cells. Meanwhile, phase G₁ to phase S transition was restrained. Filopodia in the cell surface was much fewer and its structure changed in cells transformed. CONCLUSION:nm23-H1 is capable of inhibiting A549 proliferation and decreasing its metastatic ability, probably by interfering with cell cycle and cell surface structure.     

Effect of IL-8 on mitochondrial fusion and fission gene expression in human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 during cell migration

AIM: To investigate the changes of migration of lung adenocarcinoma cells promoted by IL-8 and the inner and outer mitochondrial membrane dynamic changes during this process.METHODS: Human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 was divided into control group and IL-8 group. Cell migration was analyzed by scratch detection and Transwell assay. The secretion of endogenous IL-8 was detected by ELISA. The protein levels of mitochondrial cytochrome C (Cyt C) and mitochondrial outer membrane protein Tom20 was detected by Western blot. The mRNA expression of mitochondrial fusion genes Mfn1, Mfn2 and OPA1 and fission genes Fis1, Drp1 and MTP18 was detected by RT-PCR. The morphological changes of mitochondria were observed by MitoTracker Red CMXRos dye staining and confocal microscopy.RESULTS: The migratory rate of A549 cells and endogenous secretion of IL-8 in A549 cells were higher than those in SPC-A-1 cells. The migratory rate of A549 cells was improved by IL-8 in a time-dependent manner. Compared with control group, the Tom20 protein expression was increased (P<0.05), and the Cyt C protein expression was decreased (P<0.05). The expression of mitochondrial outer membrane fusion genes Mfn1 and Mfn2 was increased (P<0.05), and the expression of mitochondrial inner membrane fusion gene OPA1 was decreased (P<0.05). The expression of fission genes Drp1 and MTP18 were decreased (P<0.05), while the expression of Fis1 was no change (P>0.05). Under confocal microscope, the punctate aggregates in the mitochondria of the A549 cells treated with IL-8 were observed.CONCLUSION: The migratory rate of A549 cells is increased by IL-8, which is related to the changes of mitochondrial fusion genes and the fission genes.