shRNA targeted against Bcl-XL inhibits growth of human colon cancer Lovo cells

Objective To observe the inhibitory effect of shRNA interference against Bcl-XL on gene expression and cell proliferation of the human colon cancer cell line Lovo.Methods The shRNA plasmid vector against Bcl-XL was constructed and transfected into Lovo cells with Lipofectamine~(TM) 2000.Down-regulation of Bcl-XL expression was detected by RT-PCR and western blot analysis.Cell proliferation inhibition was determined by MTT assay.The effect of these shRNAs on cell cycle distribution and apoptosis was examined by flow cytometry.Results The shRNA vector targeted against Bcl-XL was successfully constructed and efficiently suppressed the expression of Bcl-XL mRNA and protein(P0.05).The expression inhibition rates were 41.24%and 45.26%at mRNA and protein level respectively.MTT assay indicated that the specific shRNA resulted in significant inhibition of cell growth on a time-dependent manner.At 72h after transfection,the cell viability of BCL group was 47.8%.significantly lower than that of blank control group(P0.05).Moreover,the cancer cells showed significant G_0/G_1 arrest and increased apoptosis at 72 hour after transfection. Conclusions The specific shRNAs targeted against Bcl-XL can down-regulate the expression of Bcl-XL gene,increase apoptosis and inhibit the growth of Lovo cells.