Construction of lentiviral vector-mediated siRNA knockdown of ER-α36and its action on gastric cancer cell growth

AIM: To construct a lentiviral vector for stable delivery of the ER-α36gene and to detect its effect on SGC7901 cell growth. METHODS: The efficient RNAi targeting sequences identified for the ER-α36gene were screened. The Oligo DNA was synthesized with target sequences and annealed to form double-stranded DNA. Then it was digested by XhoI and EcoR I and connected with GV307 vector to produce LV-ER-α36-RNAi lentiviral vector. PCR was used to screen the positive clones and sequence. The LV-ER-α36-RNAi, pHelper 1.0 and pHelper 2.0 plasmids were co-transfected into 293T cells for producing lentiviral vector and infecting SGC7901 cell line. Fluorescence microscopy, real-time PCR and Western blotting were used to detect the transfection efficiency and gene silencing effect. 17β-estrodial at concentration of 1×10-10 mol/L was used to stimulate the recombinant cell line, and the action on the growth of gastric cancer cells and the expression of Src, ERK1/2 and cyclin D1 were determined. RESULTS: DNA sequencing analysis confirmed the identity of recombinant shRNA expression vectors. Immunofluorescence assay demonstrated that transfection efficiency was above 80%. Transfection of LV-ER-α36-RNAi significantly knocked down the expression of ER-α36 at mRNA and protein levels with tetracycline (TeT) simulating as revealed by real-time PCR and Western blotting. Compared with control group, the growth of the recombinant cell line declined and the expression of Src, ERK1/2 and cyclin D1 and the activation of Src decreased (P<0.05).CONCLUSION: Lentiviral vectors that silenceER-α36expression are constructed successfully and can be used to study the role of ER-α36 in gastric cancer. The ER-α36is related with many kinds of cancer cell growth, including gastric cancer cells.