Effect of hypoxia on the Twist1 in EMT of cervical cancer cells

X.-H. Wang, X. He, H.-Y. Jin, J.-X. Liang, N. Li

Department of Invasive Technology, Huaihe Hospital of Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, China. huaihe_wxh@163.com

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• Orthopedics

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of hypoxia on the Twist1 expression in epithelial-mesenchymal transition of the cervical cancer cells.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we simulated the normoxia and hypoxia environment, where HeLa cells were cultured, respectively. Cell invasion ability was measured by the transwell assay, while the GLI-1 protein and mRNA expressions were measured by Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot assays. After that, HeLa cells were transfected with the GLI-1-specific siRNA, followed by the measurement of mRNA and protein expressions using RT-PCR and Western blot assays, as well as the cell invasion ability by the transwell assay.

RESULTS: We found that in hypoxic environment, GLI-1 was up-regulated in HeLa cells, with enhanced invasion ability. However, silencing the expression of GLI-1 could reverse the up-regulation of GLI-1 compromising the invasion ability of HeLa cells.

CONCLUSIONS: Hypoxia may account for the increased invasion of HeLa cells, which is realized by the up-regulated GLI-1.

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