Background: The survivin gene may be a good target for cancer gene therapy because it is overexpressed in a variety of human tumors, including gastric cancer, but not in differentiated adult tissues. To explore effects of the siRNA of the survivin gene inducing apoptosis in human gastric cancer cells, three siRNAs, cpusiRNA1, cpusiRNA2, and cpusiRNA3, were designed and transferred into human gastric carcinoma cell line SGC-823 (SGC-823).
Materials and methods: The opposite livability on SGC-823 cells was assayed with an MTT test. The change of mRNA and protein of survivin and p53 gene were detected by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and Western blot, respectively. Cell apoptosis was assayed by flow cytometry.
Results: The growth of SGC-823 cells decreased by 62.6%, 61.4%, and 55.1% when they were transfected with 400 nM of siRNA cpusiRNA1, cpusiRNA2, and cpusiRNA3 after 48 hours, in comparison to the control group. Also, the expression mRNA and protein of the survivin gene were knocked down, while the mRNA and protein of p53 gene were upregulated. SGC-823 cells presented an increase in apoptosis index.
Conclusions: Small interfering RNA can exert a knockdown of the survivin gene expression and upregulation the p53 gene in SGC-823 cells and effectively induce apoptosis and inhibit the growth of human gastric carcinoma cell line SGC-823.