Basic Study
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World J Gastroenterol. Oct 7, 2022; 28(37): 5420-5443
Published online Oct 7, 2022. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i37.5420
Lentivirus-mediated short hairpin RNA interference of CENPK inhibits growth of colorectal cancer cells with overexpression of Cullin 4A
Xian Li, Yi-Ru Han, Xuefeng Xuefeng, Yong-Xiang Ma, Guo-Sheng Xing, Zhi-Wen Yang, Zhen Zhang, Lin Shi, Xin-Lin Wu
Xian Li, Clinical Medical Research Center, The Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot 010050, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
Yi-Ru Han, Xuefeng Xuefeng, Yong-Xiang Ma, Guo-Sheng Xing, Zhi-Wen Yang, Zhen Zhang, Xin-Lin Wu, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot 010050, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
Lin Shi, Department of Pathology, The Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot 010050, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
Author contributions: Wu XL analyzed and interpreted the patient data; Han YR, XueFeng X, Ma YX, Xing GS, Yang ZW, Zhang Z, and Shi L did the experiments; Li X was a major contributor in writing the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81860416 and No. 22168028; Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Grassland Talent Innovation Talent Team Fund, No. 2019; and Inner Mongolia Natural Science Fund, No. 2021MS02005.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of The Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University Institutional Review Board (Approval No. WZ 2021045).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xin-Lin Wu, Doctor, Chief Doctor, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, No. 1 North Street, Hohhot 010050, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. wuxinlin@126.com
Received: November 22, 2021
Peer-review started: November 22, 2021
First decision: January 11, 2022
Revised: January 24, 2022
Accepted: September 12, 2022
Article in press: September 12, 2022
Published online: October 7, 2022
Processing time: 311 Days and 9 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide. Immunohistochemistry has found high expression of centromere protein (CENPK) in CRC. However, the role of CENPK in the progression of CRC is not well characterized.

Research motivation

To explore the role of Cullin (CUL)4A expression and lentivirus-mediated transfection with short hairpin RNA (shRNA) for CENPK in CRC.

Research objectives

We performed a series of in vitro experiments, such as quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), western blot, MTT assay, and flow cytometry, to evaluate the knockdown behavior of CENPK and overexpression of CUL4A in RKO and HCT 116 CRC cells.

Research methods

We identified CENPK as a potential new oncogene for CRC based on bioinformatics analysis. In vitro experiments verified the function of this gene. We investigated the expression of CENPK in RKO and HCT 116 cells using virus infection and analyzed datasets from qPCR, western blot, and flow cytometry. The effect of RKO cells infected with virus on tumor growth was evaluated in vivo using quantitative analysis of fluorescence imaging.

Research results

The downstream genes FBX32, CUL4A, and YAP1 were examined to evaluate the regulatory action of CENPK in RKO cells. Significantly delayed xenograft emergence, slower growth, and lower final tumor weight and volume were observed in the RKO and HCT 116 with lentivirus-mediated shRNA interference of CENPK. Interference of CENPK inhibited the proliferation rate of RKO cells in vitro and in vivo. The shRNA interference of CENPK inhibited the proliferation of RKO and HCT 116 cells, and overexpression of CUL4A gene responded to RKO and HCT 116 cells with CENPK silencing.

Research conclusions

Our findings indicate a potential role of CENPK in promoting tumor proliferation, and it may serve as a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in patients with CRC.

Research perspectives

An investigation for lentivirus-mediated transfection with shRNA for CENPK and overexpression of CUL4A demonstrated major regulatory roles in CRC. Further analysis is required to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of CRC diagnosis and therapy.