OBJECTIVETo construct the plasmid containing short hairpin RNA (shRNA) of survivin in order to suppress the expression of survivin gene in HepG2 and SMMC-7721.

METHODSTwo 20 to 21 bp reverse repeated motifs of survivin target sequence with 4 bp or 8 bp spacer were synthesized respectively and inserted into plasmid pTZU6+1 to generate the plasmid pshRNA-survivin1 and pshRNA-survivin2; plasmid pEGFP-C1-survivin and pshRNA-survivin1 or pshRNA-survivin2 plasmid were cotransfected into liver cancer cell HepG2 and SMMC-7721 to detect effect of GFP expression respectively and analyze the inhibition of survivin gene.

RESULTSThe recombinant plasmid pshRNA-survivin1 and pshRNA-survivin2 were successfully constructed. The recombinant plasmids suppress the survivin expression by 80% in HepG2 and SMMC-7721.

CONCLUSIONThe result showed that the short hairpin RNA of survivin can efficiently suppress it's expression in HepG2 and SMMC-7721.

Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Genetic Therapy ; Humans ; Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins ; Liver Neoplasms ; genetics ; therapy ; Microtubule-Associated Proteins ; genetics ; Neoplasm Proteins ; RNA Interference ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics

Network pharmacology, molecular docking and in vivo experiments were used to explore the pharmacodynamic basis and potential mechanism of Danggui Sini Decoction in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea(PD). The chemical constituents of Danggui(Angelicae Sinensis Radix), Guizhi(Cinnamomi Ramulus), Tongcao(Tetrapanacis Medulla), Baishao(Paeoniae Radix Alba), Xixin(Asari Radix et Rhizoma), Gancao(Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma), and Dazao(Jujubae Fructus) from Danggui Sini Decoction were retrieved through TCMSP(Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database), and the action targets of Danggui Sini Decoction were collected through DrugBank. "Primary dysmenorrhea" and "dysmenorrhea" were used as the key words to search the corresponding targets in the GeneCards, OMIM and TTD databases, and then the intersection targets of Danggui Sini Decoction and the primary dysmenorrhea targets were taken for reverse screening to obtain the corresponding active ingredients. Cytoscape 3.6.1 software was used to construct a traditional Chinese medicine-compound-target-disease network; STRING database was used to build a protein-protein interaction(PPI) network; Gene ontology(GO) function enrichment analysis and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes(KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis were conducted by using DAVID database. The action mechanism of the intersection targets were then predicted, and a histogram chart and bubble chart were drawn for visualization. Then the top five targets in the PPI network were used for docking with the most compounds. In animal experiments, Sprague Dawley(SD) female rats were used to establish a primary dysmenorrhea model by intraperitoneal injection of diethylstilbestrol once a day. A total of 60 SD female rats were randomly divided into 6 groups, namely control group, model group, Danggui Sini Decoction low(1.5 g·kg~(-1)), medium(3.0 g·kg~(-1)), high(6.0 g·kg~(-1)) dose groups, and ibuprofen(20 mg·kg~(-1)) positive control group, with 10 rats in each group. From day 4, except for the control group, rats in the other groups were given intragastric administration of corresponding drugs, and the control group received intragastric administration of normal saline for 7 consecutive days. The number of writhing before and after the administration, the ute-rine contraction inhibition rate and the uterine index after administration were observed, and ELISA assay was used to detect the levels of prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2(PTGS2) and vascular endothelial growth factor A(VEGFA) in the tissues of each group as well as the levels of serum inflammatory factors interleukin 1(IL-1), interleukin 6(IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-α). According to network analysis, 7 Chinese medicines contained 114 active ingredients, 149 targets, and 30 common target genes with PD were obtained. The key targets included VEGFA, IL6, PTGS2, TNF, etc.; GO function enrichment analysis showed a total of 399 terms(P<0.05) were obtained, 353 of which were biological process(BP) terms, 21 were cell composition(CC) terms, and 25 were molecular function(MF) terms. In KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, 14 signaling pathways were obtained, 3 of which were related to inflammation, namely arachidonic acid metabolism, MAPK signaling pathway and NOD-like receptor signaling pathway. The compounds in Danggui Sini Decoction can play a therapeutic role in the treatment of PD by acting on VEGFA, IL-6, PTGS2, TNF and other targets to regulate arachidonic acid and inflammatory signaling pathways.
Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Dysmenorrhea/drug therapy* ; Female ; Humans ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A