Deleted in liver cancer-1 and focal adhesion kinase genes are implicated in the growth and apoptosis of malignant OVCAR-3 cells

Objective To investigate the effects of deleted in liver cancer-1 (DLC-1) and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) on the growth and apoptosis of malignant OVCAR-3 cells.Methods DLC-1 expression plasmid,FAK specific small hairpin RNA (shRNA) expression plasmid,and FAK-shRNA combined DLC-1 expression plasmid were constructed and transfected into OVCAR-3 cells.Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR) and Western blotting were used to detect the expression of DLC-1 and FAK in OVCAR-3 cells,cell proliferation and apoptosis were examined by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) kit and flow cytometry,and the expression of phospho-extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (p-ERK1/2) was measured by using Western blotting.Results While the DLC-1 expression increased or/and FAK knocked down,the growth of OVCAR-3 cells was obviously inhibited [(0.737 ± 0.094),P ＜0.05],but apoptosis was significantly induced [(15.21 ± 1.05) ％,P ＜ 0.05].In addition,the expression of p-ERK1/2 was notably decreased [(0.151 ±0.010),P ＜0.05].Conclusion DLC1 might be implicated in the growth and apoptosis of malignant tumor cells via its regulation on FAK and downstream ERK signaling. Key words: Deleted in liver cancer-1 ;  Focal adhesion kinase;  Small hairpin RNA