Effects of PTEN gene silencing on invasion and EMT in oral squamous carcinoma Tca8113 cells.

Abstract

To investigate the impact of silencing of the PTEN gene using siRNA on the invasion, proliferation, cell cycle, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of the Tca8113 cell line. The established Tca8113 cell model with siRNA interference to silence the PTEN gene was used. The transfection efficiency was examined by RT-qPCR and Western blot analysis. CCK-8 assay was utilized to analyze the proliferation of Tca8113 cells and cell invasion was evaluated using a transwell assay. The cell cycle distribution was analyzed by flow cytometry. The protein expression levels of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers E-cadherin and Vimentin and the EMT-related proteins β-catenin and TGF-β1 were analyzed by Western blot. The expression level of PTEN was significantly reduced in the PTEN-siRNA group. The invasiveness and proliferation rate of Tca8113 cells in the PTEN-siRNA group were significantly greater than those of the control and negative control groups. The expression levels of E-cadherin and β-catenin were reduced, whereas the expression levels of vimentin and TGFβ-1 were elevated in the PTEN-siRNA group compared with those of control and negative groups. These results were significantly different. The silencing of PTEN by siRNA increased the proliferation and promoted cell invasion of Tca8113 cells. PTEN gene silencing may accelerate the EMT in Tca8113 cells.