Abstract
Objective To observe the effects of forkhead box C2 gene (FOXC2) short hairpin RNA on docetaxel chemotherapy sensitivity of human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells.Methods MDA-MB-231 cells were transfected with recombinant expression plasmid FOXC2-small interfering RNA (siRNA) by lipofectamine 2000,and the expression of FOXC2 mRNA and protein was detected at 48 h after transfection.The morphological changes of apoptotic cells were observed under fluorescent microscope at 72 h after transfection.Methyl thiazol tetrazolium (MTT) assay was used to examine the inhibitory rate and the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50).Flow cytometry was applied to examine apoptosis and cell cycle at 72nd h after transfection.Results As compared with negative control plasmid and FOXC2-siRNA non-transfection group,the typical apoptotic morphology of MDA-MB-231 cells was observed,and the mRNA and protein expression levels of FOXC2 were obviously reduced in FOXC2-siRNA transfection group (P < 0.05).Silencing FOXC2 increased sensitivity of MDA-MB-231 cells to docetaxel (P < 0.05),and IC50 was decreased from (6.08 ±1.23) mg/L to (0.65 ±0.01) mg/L.Meanwhile,the apoptosis rate of MDA-MB-231 cells transfected with pFOXC2-shRNA was (20.01 ± 0.19)%,which was significantly higher than other three groups,and the proportion of cells in S phase and G0/G1 phase was decreased and that in G2/M phase was increased (P <0.05).Conclusion Down-regulation of FOXC2 expression by siRNA in breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells could effectively induce apoptosis of MDA-MB-231 cells and increase their sensitivity to docetaxel. Key words: Breast cancer; Docetaxel; Apoptosis; Sensitizing effect
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