Construction of siRNA expression vectors for human telomerase reverse transcriptase and their inhibitory effect on transfected HeLa cells in vitro

AIM: To study the growth inhibition of tumor cells by inhibiting telomerase expression of tumor cells with RNA interference (RNAi) technique. METHODS: According to the encoding sequence of mRNA of hTERT (human telomerase reverse transciptase), the target site for RNAi technique was designed and the vector for siRNA (small interfering RNA) expression in tumor cells was constructed. The HeLa cell line was transfected and the inhibition of the expression of telomerase was further observed. RESULTS: The constructed vector significantly inhibited the expression of mRNA and protein of telomerase in HeLa cells. The growth of the transfected cells was inhibited. CONCLUSION: siRNA expression vectors targeting hTERT are successfully constructed. After transfection of the constructed vectors into HeLa cells, the expression of telomerase in HeLa cells is effectively inhibited and thus slows down the cell growth of the HeLa cells.