1.Effect of gene silencing of Bmi-1 on proliferation regulation of CD44+ nasopharyngeal carcinoma cancer stem-like cells.
Xinhua XU ; Yang LIU ; Daojun LI ; Jin SU ; Juan HU ; Mingqian LU ; Fang YI ; Jinghua RENG ; Weihong CHEN
Journal of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery 2015;29(10):941-947
OBJECTIVE:
To investigate the effect of gene silencing of Bmi-1 on proliferation regulation of CD44+ nasopharyngeal carcinoma cancer stem-like cells (CSC-LCs).
METHOD:
The sequence-specific short hairpin RNA lentivirus targeting at human Bmi-1 gene (LV-Bmi-1shRNA) was constructed and was used to infect CD44+ nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells which were sorted by flow cytometry. A lentiviral which included a random sequence was also designed to serve as a negative control. We employed fluorescence microscope and flow cytometry to detect infection efficiency; real-time PCR was used to detect Bmi-1 and its downstream gene while each protein expression level was confirmed by western blotting protocol; CCK-8 proliferation assay was applied to measure proliferation capacity; tumor spheroid assay was used to evaluate the self-renewal capacity. Colony formation assay was used to measure cell colony formation capability; flow cytometry analyzed cell cycle distribution.
RESULT:
The constructed LV-Bmi-1shRNA successfully infected into the CD44+ nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. The infection efficiency could reach above 95%; LV-Bmi-lshRNA effectively inhibited Bmi-1 mRNA and protein expression, while the downstream gene p16INK4a and p14ARF mRNA as well as protein expression level were upregulated (P < 0.05). Notablely, the proliferation, colony formation, self-renewal capabilities of the experimental group decreased significantly (P < 0.05). In addition, the cell cycle arrested at the G0-G1 phase.
CONCLUSION
Gene silencing of Bmi-1 inhibited the proliferation, colony formation and self-renewal capabilities of the CD44+ nasopharyngeal carcinoma CSC-LCs, inhibited the cell cycle processes, which may mediate through Bmi1-p16INK4a/p14ARF-p53 pathway. Our experimental results indicated that Bmi-1 gene may play an important role in the maintenance of the stem cell-like characteristics of CD44+ nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. Bmi-1 gene may be a potential new target for the treatment of nasopharyng al carcinoma in the future.
Carcinoma
;
Cell Cycle
;
Cell Division
;
Cell Line, Tumor
;
Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16
;
metabolism
;
Gene Silencing
;
Humans
;
Hyaluronan Receptors
;
metabolism
;
Lentivirus
;
Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
;
Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms
;
genetics
;
pathology
;
Neoplastic Stem Cells
;
cytology
;
Polycomb Repressive Complex 1
;
genetics
;
RNA, Messenger
;
RNA, Small Interfering
;
Tumor Suppressor Protein p14ARF
;
metabolism
;
Tumor Suppressor Protein p53
;
metabolism