Apoptosis and reduced cell proliferation of HL-60 cell line caused by human telomerase reverse transcriptase inhibition by siRNA.

摘要

BACKGROUND: The close correlation between telomerase activity and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) expression has made hTERT to be considered as a selective molecular target for human cancer therapy. In this study, the ability of short-interfering RNA (siRNA) to downregulate hTERT expression and its correlation with cell growth and apoptosis in the promyelocytic cell line HL-60 was evaluated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: hTERT siRNA was designed and transfected to HL-60. hTERT mRNA expression, cell proliferation and apoptotic cells were measured. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results indicated that hTERT siRNA resulted in 97.2 +/- 0.6% downregulation of the hTERT mRNA content; inhibition of the cell proliferation rate was about 52.8 +/- 2.3% and the apoptotic index of cells was 30.5 +/- 1.5%. hTERT plays an essential role in cell proliferation and control of the viability of leukemic cells, thus promising the development of drugs for leukemia.