Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 14, 2015; 21(10): 2926-2936
Published online Mar 14, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i10.2926
Anti-proliferation effects of Twist gene silencing in gastric cancer SGC7901 cells
Hui Zhang, Jian Gong, Di Kong, Hong-Yi Liu
Hui Zhang, Jian Gong, Di Kong, Hong-Yi Liu, Department of Oncology Surgery, Tianjin Nankai Hospital, Tianjin 300100, China
Author contributions: Zhang H and Liu HY defined the research theme; Liu HY designed the methods; Zhang H performed the majority of experiments; Gong J carried out the laboratory experiments; Kong D analyzed the data; Zhang H and Liu HY interpreted the results and wrote the paper.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Hong-Yi Liu, Department of Oncology Surgery, Tianjin Nankai Hospital, No. 122, Nankai Sanwei Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300100, China. hongyiliu666@163.com
Telephone: +86-22-27435233 Fax: +86-22-27435239
Received: September 13, 2014
Peer-review started: September 13, 2014
First decision: October 14, 2014
Revised: October 22, 2014
Accepted: December 1, 2014
Article in press: December 1, 2014
Published online: March 14, 2015
Processing time: 184 Days and 6.1 Hours
Abstract

AIM: To study the role of Twist gene in gastric cancer by gene silencing, including the potential of induction of apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and proliferation inhibition in human malignant gastric SGC7901 cells.

METHODS: The expression level of Twist in gastric cancer samples was measured by immunohistochemistry. The effects of Twist gene silencing were detected at both mRNA and protein levels by RT-PCR and Western blot. We also evaluated the cell proliferation and apoptosis by CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry. We determined the activity of caspase-3 and caspase-9 with a caspase activity assay kit. Cell cycle distribution was analyzed by flow cytometry. Cell migration and invasion ability was evaluated by wound scratch assay and Boyden chamber assay.

RESULTS: Twist protein was highly expressed in gastric cancer samples. Twist gene silencing significantly induced apoptosis, cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase, proliferation inhibition, and reduced the ability of migration and invasion in human gastric cancer SGC7901 cells. Meanwhile, both caspase-3 and caspase-9 were activated.

CONCLUSION: The Twist gene could serve as a potential molecular target for gene therapy of gastric cancer with targeted small interfering RNA.

Keywords: Twist; siRNA; SGC7901; Apoptosis; Invasion

Core tip: Twist is a highly conserved transcription factor gene in gastric cancer. Silencing of the Twist gene could induce apoptosis of human gastric cancer SGC7901 cells, induce cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase, inhibit cell proliferation, and reduce the ability of cell migration and invasion. The current research provides a potential gene therapy target for gastric cancer.