Effects of RNA interference targeting CDC25agene on proliferation of human liver cancer HepG2 cells

AIM: To investigate the effect of silencing cell division cycle 25a (CDC25a) gene on the proliferation of human hepatoma HepG2 cells. METHODS: CDC25agene in human hepatoma HepG2 cells was silenced by RNA interference. Real-time PCR was applied to detect the expression of CDC25a, cyclin E and CDK2 at mRNA levels in the HepG2 cells. Western blotting was applied to detect the expression of CDC25a at protein level. In addition, MTT assay, Giemsa staining and flow cytometry were used to measure the proliferation of human hepatoma HepG2 cells. RESULTS: The expression of CDC25a at mRNA and protein levels in RNA silence group was lower than those in negative control group and normal control group (P＜0.05). The mRNA expression of cyclin E and CDK2 in silence group was lower than that in negative control group and normal control group (P＜0.05). The cell proliferation in silence group was lower than that in negative control group and normal control group (P＜0.05). The results of flow cytometry revealed that the cells in silence group were blocked in G1 phase. CONCLUSION: Infection of LV-CDC25a-RNAi recombinant to the HepG2 cells effectively inhibits the CDC25agene expression and the proliferation of human hepatoma cells, and arrests the cells in G1 phase, suggesting that CDC25agene may be a key target for the treatment of liver cancer.