Effects of HIF-1α gene knock-down on proliferation of and VEGF expression in human colon carcinoma SW480 cells

AIM:To investigate the effect of hypoxia-inducible transcription factor-1α(HIF-1α)on proliferation of and the VEGF expression in SW480 cells,so as to explore the possible mechanism of HIF-1α regulation on cell proliferation.METHODS:The pSuper-EGFP siRNA expression vector tar-geting HIF-1α was constructed,transferred into SW480 cells,and then exposed to a normoxic or hypoxic environment.mRNA and protein levels of VEGF were respectively detected by RT-PCR and Western Blot in different cell culture environment.MTT assay was adopted to detect SW480 cell proliferation after HIF-1α was inhi-bited.RESULTS:The mRNA and protein expression of HIF-1α was inhibited by HIF-1α siRNA vector.The mRNA and protein level of VEGF decreased obviously by HIF-1α gene silence.The SW480 cell proliferation was also down regulated with HIF-1α inhibition(P0.05).CONCLUSION:The expression of VEGF is down-regulated via HIF-1α gene silence,thus inhibiting the proliferation of SW480 cells.HIF-1α is a good target gene in anti-cancer therapy for colon tumors.