Effect of over-expressed macrophage migration Inhibitory factor on epithelial-mesenchymal transition in human cervical carcinoma SiHa cells

Objective To investigate the effect of over-expressed macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) on epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in human cervical carcinoma SiHa cells. Methods Recombinant eukaryotic expression plasmid liposome enhanced transfection of green fluorescent protein gene (pEGFP-N1)-MIF was constructed and then transfected into human cervical cancer SiHa cells. Experimental cells were classified into three groups (SiHa -pEGFP-N1-MIF, SiHa-pEGFP-N1, and SiHa). Western blot was used to detect the expression of MIF protein, and the expressions of EMT-related markers such as E-cadherin and vimentin in SiHa cells were determined before and after transfection. Results The eukaryotic expression vector pEGFP-N1-MIF significantly increased the expression of MIF protein in SiHa cells (P<0.05), and after overexpression of MIF gene in SiHa cells, the expression of E-cadherin protein in SiHa-pEGFP-N1-MIF group was significantly lower than that in control groups (P<0.05), while the expression of vimentin in SiHa-pEGFP-N1-MIF group was significantly higher than that in control groups (P<0.05). Conclusions Overexpression of MIF in cervical cancer SiHa cells can promote the EMT occurrence. Key words: Blotting, Western; Macrophage migration-inhibitory factors/ME/PD; Uterine cervical neoplasms/ME/PA/DT; Cell transformation, neoplastic/DE; Epithelial cells/DE/PA; Stromal cells/DE/PA