ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate the effects of change in expression level of peroxiredoxin 4 (Prdx4) protein on proliferation and apoptosis of cervical cancer HeLa cells. Methods: The combination plasmid pcDNA3.0-HA-Prdx4 (the empty vector pcDNA3.0-HA was used as the negative control) and three small interference RNAs (siRNAs) against human Prdx4 gene (the negative control siRNA was used as the negative control) were transfected into HeLa cells, respectively. The change in the expression of Prdx4 protein was validated by Western blotting, then MTT assay and flow cytometry (FCM) were performed to detect the proliferation activity and apoptosis of HeLa cells, respectively. Results: The expression level of Prdx4 protein was up-regulated in HeLa cells after transfection with pcDNA3.0-HA-Prdx4 plasmid (P 0.05). But three siRNAs-mediated interference of Prdx4 protein expression significantly decreased the proliferation activity and increased the apoptotic rate of HeLa cells as compared with the negative control group (transfected with the negative control siRNA) (all P < 0.05). Conclusion: Although the up-regulation of Prdx4 expression has no effect on the cell proliferation and apoptosis of HeLa cells, the down-regulation of Prdx4 expression can inhibit the cell proliferation and promote the apoptosis. These findings indicate that Prdx4 gene may become a candidate molecular target for cervical cancer therapy.