Targeting Apollon via siRNA Induces Apoptosis in Different Human Malignancies

Abstract

Apollon, also called Baculoviral IAP Repeat-Containing Protein 6 (BIRC6) or Baculoviral IAP Repeat-containing Ubiquitin Conjugating Enzyme (BRUCE), is an anti-apoptotic protein belonging to the IAP family, which consists of eight members. The genes of this family render cancer cells insensitive to apoptotic stimulation. The aim of the present study was to investigate and assess the role of small interference RNA (siRNA) in the regulation of Apollon gene expression in four different human cancerous cell lines; breast cancer (MCF-7), cervical cancer (HeLa), colon cancer (CaCo-2) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG-2). Lipofection was carried out to introduce the Apollon-specific siRNA into the cancerous cells and the Apollon expression levels were determined using RT-PCR. Trypan blue assay was conducted to assess the integrity of the cell membranes after being transfected. 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2-5- Diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was also implemented to assess the cell viability through the mitochondrial reductase enzymes activity. The obtained results concluded that transfecting the malignant cells with Apollon-specific siRNA have led to the down regulation of Apollon expression compared to the control non-transfected cells. RNA interference targeting the anti-apoptotic genes such as Apollon could be considered as a promising approach and may help as a future therapeutic tool for many types of human cancers.