EFFECT OF DOWN-REGULATED NEK2 EXPRESSION OF SIRNA ON PROLIFERATION, APOPTOSIS AND RADIOSENSITIVITY OF NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER A549 CELLS

Aizizi Abulaiti¹, Zhengwei Zhao², Xiong Li³, Junqi Lv³, Xiaowen Wang³, Jifang Dang³, Shengmao Ma^{3, *}

¹Department of Thoracic Surgery, People's Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi, PR China - ²Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tangdu Hospital Affiliated to Air Force Medical University, Xi’an, PR China - ³Department of Thoracic Surgery, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region People's Hospital, Yinchuan, PR China

Objective: To investigate the effect of down-regulated NEK2 expression of siRNA on the proliferation, apoptosis and radiosensitivity of non-small cell lung cancer A549 cells. 

Methods: Training human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) A549 cells, establishing three groups (control, negative control, and NEK2-siRNA), using radiation instrument to illuminate with doses at 2, 4, 6 and 8 Gy, evaluating siRNA’s effect on NEK2 expression with regard to cell proliferation, apoptosis and radiosensitivity. 

Results: The ability to inhibit cell proliferation in the NEK2-siRNA group was significantly weaker than that in the negative control group (P<0.05). In addition, the negative control group showed no significant differences from the blank control group in inhibiting cell proliferation (P>0.05). When the radiation dose was 4, 6 or 8 Gy, the cell clone formation rate and cell survival score of the NEK2-siRNA group were significantly lower than those in the negative control group (P<0.05). When the radiation dose was 0 or 2 Gy, there was no significant difference in cell clone formation rate or cell survival score between each group (P>0.05). Furthermore, there was no significant difference between the negative control group and the blank control group at any level of radiation (P>0.05). When the radiation dose was 0 or 4 Gy, the apoptosis rate of the NEK2-siRNA group was significantly higher than that of the negative control group (P<0.05). In addition, there was no significant difference between the negative control group and the blank control group in cell clone formation rate and cell survival score (P>0.05). When the radiation dose was 4 Gy, the apoptosis rate of each group was significantly higher than at 0 Gy (P<0.05).

Conclusion: SiRNA can inhibit tumor cell proliferation, promote apoptosis and enhance radiosensitivity by down-regulating NEK2 expression in NSCLC cells.