Inhibition of Human Glioma Cell Proliferation Caused by Knockdown of Utrophin Using a Lentivirus-Mediated System

Abstract

Background: Glioma is the most devastating brain tumor worldwide. Previous studies showed that UTRN (utrophin) was related to cancers, but its role in glioma cells remains uncovered.

Materials and methods: RNAi was used to knockdown UTRN in U251 cells using lentivirus system. The knockdown efficiency was validated by real-time quantitative PCR. Cell proliferation, cell cycle, and apoptosis progression were determined by MTT, colony formation analysis, and flow cytometry analysis. Furthermore, some apoptotic markers were examined by Western blot assay.

Results: Most cells were infected. Cell proliferation and colony formation ability were suppressed in U251 cells lacking UTRN. Moreover, there was an obvious increase in cell percentage in the G2/M phases and a significant apoptosis in U251 cells after UTRN silencing. Further investigation demonstrated that UTRN knockdown activated caspase and PARP pathways.

Conclusions: Knockdown of UTRN expression by shRNA evidently inhibited cell proliferation and promoted cell apoptosis in glioma cells.

Keywords: Glioma; RNA interference; Utrophin; cell apoptosis.