Effect of HAI-1 gene on autophagy of prostate cancer PC-3 cells

Objective To determine the autophagy of prostate cancer PC-3 cells induced by hepatocyte growth factor-activator inhibitor-1 (HAI-1) gene overexpression, and to investigate its potential mechanism. Methods PC-3 cells were transfected with recombinant plasmid pcDNA3.1-HAI-1, and the empty vector was included as the control group. At 72 h after the transfection, the total RNA and protein were extracted. The changes of the HAI-1 and autophagy markers (LC3-B) gene expression were determined by real-time quantitative RT-PCR. Western blotting was used to measure the change of LC3-B protein expression level. Transmission electron microscopy and cell immunofluorescence were used to determine the ultrastructure and autophagy level. Results Compared with the control group, the expression of LC3-B was significantly increased (3.42±0.29, P<0.05) . The transmission electron microscopy showed that a large number of autophagosomes and autophagy lysosomes were found in the prostate cancer, PC-3 cytoplasm. Conclusion HAI-1 gene can induce autophagy in prostate cancer PC-3 cells. Key words: Serine proteinase inhibitors; Prostatic neoplasms; Autophagy