Effects on Proliferation of VSMCs by Silencing the Cx43 Expression with siRNAs

Objective To investigate the effects on the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMCs) after silencing the Cx43 expression with specific siRNAs.Methods Chemically synthesized targeted for Cx43 gene double-stranded siRNAs were transfected into VSMCs.Semiquantative RT-PCR was used to evaluate the inhibitory effects of 378siRNAs on Cx43 expression after transfection for 24,48,72 and 96 h.Cell proliferation was detected by MTT assays for transfected 50,100,150 and 200 nmol/L 378siRNA.Results The result of semiquantitative RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that the gray scale of the cells transfected with the 378siRNAs was significantly lower than that of the blank control group and non-specific siRNA group with the time-dependant manner.After tranfected for 24、48、72 and 96 h,all optical density(OD) of VSMCs transfected with 378siRNAs were lower compared with blank control group(P0.05),but there was no difference within 72 h.The suppression of the VSMCs proliferation was 32.51% and 42.67%(P0.01)after 72 h and 96 h respectively.There showed a dose-dependant manner.No obvious changes of the OD was detected in non-specific siRNA group(P0.05).Conclusion The 378siRNAs targeted for Cx43 gene exhibited inhibitory effects on proliferation of VSMCs and Cx43 gene expression.