ABSTRACT
Objective; To investigate the effects of WNT4 gene silecing on the migration and invasion of renal tubular epithelial cells of the rats stably transfected with paired box gene 2 (PAX2) gene, and to clarify whether the PAX2 gene regulates the biological activities of renal tubular epithelial cells through WNT4 gene or not. Methods; The renal tubular epithelial cells transfected with PAX2 gene in the logarithmic phase were divided into stably transfected group and control group. The cells in stably transfected group were divided into stably transfected control group (without WNT4 siRNA silencing) and silencing 72 h group (with WNT4 siRNA silencing for 72 h). The relative expression amounts of PAX2 and WNT4 proteins in renal tubular epithelial cells of the rats in stably transfected group and control group were detected by Western blotting method. The relative expression amounts of WNT4 mRNA in renal tubular epithelial cells of the rats in stably transfected control group and silencing 72 h group were detected by Real time PCR method. The migration rates of renal tubular epithelial cells of the rats in stably transfected control group and silencing 72 h group were detected by cell wound scratch assay. The number of transmembrane renal tubular epithelial cells of the rats in stably transfected control group and silencing 72 h group was detected by Transwell experiment. Results: The Western blotting results showed that the relative expression amounts of PAX2 and WNT4 proteins in renal tubular epithelial cells of the rats in stably transfected group were higher than those in control group (P0. 05); the migration rate of renal tubular epithelial cells in silencing 72 h group after 18 h was lower than that in stably transfected control group (P<0. 05). The Transwell experiment results showed that the number of transmembrane renal tubular epithelial cells in silencing 72 h group was lower than that in stably transfected control group (P<0. 05). Conclusion: PAX2 gene can regulate the biological activities of renal tubular epithelial cells through WNT4 gene.