Effects of lovastatin on differentially expressed genes in HepG2 cells

AIM: To analyze the lovastatin-induced differential gene expression in HepG2 cells using a cDNA microarray assay. METHODS: Total RNA was extracted from the lovastatin-treated HepG2 cells and control group. cDNA was synthesized from RNA with Cy3/Cy5-labelled dCTP. Then the hybridization was conducted. The result was analyzed using Imagene and Genespring software. RT-PCR was carried to confirm the hybridization results. RESULTS: 30 genes were up-regulated while 11 genes were down-regulated in lovastatin-treated HepG2 cells, involved in some major functional areas including signal transduction, cell cycle regulation, tumor immunity, and so on. CONCLUSION: The analysis of differentially expressed genes in lovastatin-treated HepG2 cells is helpful to explore the mechanism of the anti-tumor activity of statins.