The influence of SnoN gene silencing by siRNA on the cell proliferation and apoptosis of human pancreatic cancer cells

BACKGROUND: The prognosis for pancreatic cancer (PC) is very poor. The SnoN gene may have a role in cell proliferation and apoptosis in human cancer. However, the influence of SnoN on cell proliferation and apoptosis in human PC cells remains unknown. METHODS: SnoN expression was assessed in SW1990 PC cell lines using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A luciferase reporter assay was used to confirm the target associations. The effect of SnoN on cell proliferation in vitro was confirmed using Cell Counting Kit-8. Apoptosis was confirmed using flow cytometry. Gene and protein expression were examined using real time PCR and Western blotting, respectively. RESULTS: SnoN siRNA significantly inhibited the growth of SW1990 cells by decreasing cell proliferation (P < 0.05) and increasing cell apoptosis (P < 0.05), compared with the blank group and the negative control group. The highest inhibition of cell proliferation appeared at 3 days post-transfection. Cell apoptosis more obvious at 48 h after transfection. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, our results reveal that the RNAi-mediated downregulation of SnoN effectively inhibited the proliferation of PC cells. SnoN-siRNA also enhanced SW1990 PC cell apoptosis. These findings indicate that SnoN gene plays an important role in pancreatic cancer development, and might serve as a potential therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer. However, further in vivo studies are needed to clarify the influence of SnoN gene silencing by siRNA on pancreatic cancer therapy. VIRTUAL SLIDES: The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/7609324661510147