Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. May 28, 2017; 23(20): 3675-3683
Published online May 28, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i20.3675
Effect of NDC80 in human hepatocellular carcinoma
Lin-Ling Ju, Lin Chen, Jun-Hong Li, Yi-Fan Wang, Ru-Jian Lu, Zhao-Lian Bian, Jian-Guo Shao
Lin-Ling Ju, Lin Chen, Yi-Fan Wang, Ru-Jian Lu, Zhao-Lian Bian, Jian-Guo Shao, Nantong Institute of Liver Diseases, Nantong Third People’s Hospital, Nantong University, Nantong 226006, Jiangsu Province, China
Jun-Hong Li, Hematology Laboratory, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Ju LL, Chen L and Li JH contributed equally to this work; all authors made substantial contributions to the conception and design of the study and data acquisition and interpretation, and revised the manuscript and approved the final version to be published.
Supported by Health Bureau of Nantong City, No. WQ2016011; Nantong Science and Technology Bureau, No. MS22015105; National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81601842; Science and Technology Development Project of Nantong City, China, No. HS2014061; and Jiangsu Provincial Commission of Health and Family Planning, No. H201453.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of Nantong Third People’s Hospital Affiliated to Nantong University, Nantong, China.
Informed consent statement: All tissue samples were taken from the patients after informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that they have no competing interests related to this study.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Zhao-Lian Bian, PhD, Nantong Institute of Liver Diseases, Nantong Third People’s Hospital, Nantong University, No. 60, Middle Qingnian Road, Nantong 226006, Jiangsu Province, China. bianzhaolian1998@163.com
Telephone: +86-139-62910367 Fax: +86-513-85512674
Received: December 1, 2016
Peer-review started: December 6, 2016
First decision: February 9, 2017
Revised: February 23, 2017
Accepted: March 20, 2017
Article in press: March 20, 2017
Published online: May 28, 2017
Abstract
AIM

To investigate the role of nuclear division cycle (NDC)80 in human hepatocellular carcinogenesis.

METHODS

NDC80 gene expression was analyzed by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in 47 paired hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and adjacent tissues. The HCC cell line SMMC-7721 was transfected with lentivirus to silence endogenous NDC80 gene expression, which was confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. The effects of NDC80 silencing on SMMC-7721 cell proliferation were evaluated by Cellomics ArrayScan VTI imaging. Cell cycle analysis and apoptosis were detected with flow cytometry. Colony formation was assessed by fluorescence microscopy.

RESULTS

NDC80 expression levels in HCC tissues were significantly higher than those in the adjacent tissues. Functional studies demonstrated that NDC80 silencing significantly reduced SMMC-7721 cell proliferation and colony formation. Knockdown of NDC80 resulted in increased apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at S-phase. NDC80 contributed to HCC progression by reducing apoptosis and overcoming cell cycle arrest.

CONCLUSION

Elevated expression of NDC80 may play a role in promoting the development of HCC.

Keywords: NDC80, Cell proliferation, Apoptosis, Cell cycle, Hepatocellular carcinoma

Core tip: Nuclear division cycle (NDC)80 is a member of the NDC80 kinetochore complex and is highly expressed in cancer. NDC80 is a newly identified gene that is overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We analyzed the biological function of NDC80 in the proliferation and apoptosis of HCC cells, and provided new reference data and experimental support for HCC-targeting gene therapy.