Knockdown of Wip1 Enhances Sensitivity to Radiation in HeLa Cells Through Activation of p38 MAPK

The objectives of the study were to investigate the functional role and potential mechanism of wild-type p53-induced phosphatase (Wip1) in cervical cancer cell line HeLa cells, along with the effect of knockdown of Wip1 in combination with γ-irradiation on the HeLa cells. Expression of Wip1 was silenced or overexpressed. After transfection, cell viability was determined. Moreover, γ-irradiation and SB203580 were performed to explore the effect of colony formation and cell apoptosis. Likewise, protein expression levels of p38, p-p38, p53, and p-p53 were assessed in the presence or not of SB203580 and overexpression of Wip1. Both the mRNA and protein levels of Wip1 were significantly decreased by transfection with Wip1-specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) but were significantly increased by transfection with pcDNA3.1-Wip1. Knockdown of Wip1 significantly decreased cell growth and colony formation ability and increased apoptotic rate. Additionally, better results were obtained by knockdown of Wip1 in combination with γ-irradiation. The protein expression levels of p-p38 (p < 0.05), p53 (p < 0.01), and p-p53 (p < 0.05) were all significantly increased by knockdown of Wip1. However, application of SB203580 reversed the effects. Our study confirms the important roles of Wip1 in cervical cancer. Knockdown of Wip1 enhances sensitivity to radiation in HeLa cells by inhibiting cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis through activation of p38 MAPK.