Role of silencing phosphatase of regenerationg liver-3 expression by microRNA interference in the growth of gastric cancer / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

ABSTRACT

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Accumulated evidences demonstrate that phosphatase of regeneration liver-3 (PRL-3) is associated with metastasis of multiple tumor types, and has been validated as a potential therapeutic target for metastasis. High expression of PRL-3 was implicated in lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer. In the present study, we investigated the role of silencing PRL-3 expression by microRNA (miRNA) interference in gastric cancer growth.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>RNA interference, mediated by recombinant lentivirus expressing artificial PRL-3 miRNA, was employed to knockdown PRL-3 expression in human SGC7901 gastric cancer cells. MTT assay and tumor implantation experiment were conducted to determine the role of PRL-3 in the proliferation of SGC7901 cells and tumor growth.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Transfection of recombinant lentivirus expressing artificial PRL-3 miRNA significantly suppressed the proliferation of SGC7901 cells in vitro. The implanted tumor size of the PRL-3 transfection group was (1.92 +/- 0.18) cm(3), significantly smaller compared with controls (P < 0.001).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Knockdown of PRL-3 significantly suppressed the proliferation of SGC7901 cells in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. PRL-3 plays a key role in the growth of gastric cancer. PRL-3 should be considered as a potential therapeutic target.</p>