Effect of interfering RNA targeting β-Catenin on the proliferation and apoptosis of hepatic stellate cells in vitro

Objective To investigate the effect of synthetic small interfering RNA(siRNA)targeting β-Catenin on the biological characters of hepatic stellate cells(HSCs)in vitro.Methods Synthetic siRNA targeting β-Catenin was transfected into HSC-T6 cells by lipofectamine package.Negative siRNA transfection and no transfection were used as negative and blank control,respectively.After incubation with siRNA,total RNA and protein of HSC-T6 cells were extracted.The expression of β-Catenin gene and protein was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting.The proliferation of HSC-T6 was determined using MTT assay.HSC-T6 proliferation and apoptosis were measured by flow cytometry.Content of collagen type Ⅰand Ⅲin the supernatants were determined by Western blotting.Results After HSC-T6 cells transfected with different concentrations of β-Catenin SiRNA,the level of β-Catenin mRNA decreased significantly as compared to the negative and blank control;β-Catenin protein expression was inhibited by 56.43±2.88%(P0.01),and Ⅰ and Ⅲ collagen expression were also inhibited by 46.58±3.46%(P0.01)and 50.48±3.72%(P0.01);the cell proliferation was significantly inhibited(P0.01),while cell apoptosis rate was significantly higher than in the negative control(P0.05).Conclusion Inhibition of β-Catenin by siRNA may have a potential effect on prevention and treatment of hepatic fibrosis by inhibiting proliferation of and promoting apoptosis of stellate cells.