Growth Inhibition of Uterine Cervix Cancer Cells (HeLa) by an siRNA Targeting Human Telomerase Catalytic Subunit Gene

Abstract: In this study， we aimed to observe the effect of chemically synthesized human telomerase catalytic subunit (hTERT)-oriented siRNA in cultured cell line and in a mouse xenograft model. Transfected hTERT-siRNA into HeLa cells， then using the RT-PCR， RQ TRAP， Western blot， soft agar colony forming assay， and intratumoral injection of hTERT-siRNA in a mouse xenograft model to investigate the level of hTERT mRNA and protein， the activity of telomerase， energy for growth of HeLa in vitro and in vivo. The result of RT-PCR， Western blot and RQ TRAP had showed that after transfected with hTERT-siRNA， the level of hTERT mRNA and protein decreased， and the activity of the telomerase was depressed obviously. The colony forming assay showed that energy for growth of hTERT-siRNA group was lower than that of the two control groups. The animal experiments showed that the cancer growth of hTERT-siRNA group was depressed. TUNEL assay showed an increased apoptosis rate in hTERT-siRNA group. Our study have showed that hTERT-siRNA can inhibit the expression of hTERT and depress the growth of the HeLa cells by inducing apoptosis in vitro and in vivo.
    

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2006.06.0017