Inhibition of SNAI2 expression enhances tumor stem cell-like characteristics and multi-drug resistance of hepatoma cells

Abstract

Abstract: Objective The role of Snail family transcriptional repressor 2 (SNAI2) in different types of malignant tumors remains controversial. The study aimed to investigate the role of SNAI2 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods The shRNA lentivirus was used to transfect HCC cells and analyzed the effect of SNAI2 deletion on anchorage-independent growth of HCC cells by cell pelleting assay, and cholecystokinin-8 assay was used to detect the sensitivity of HCC cells with SNAI2 deletion to various chemotherapeutic drugs. Results When the expression of SNAI2 was inhibited by shRNA, the anchorage-independent growth ability and colony formation ability of HCC cells were significantly increased. Inhibition of SNAI2 molecule expression enhanced the resistance of HCC cells to various chemotherapeutic drugs. Conclusion The study indicated that SNAI2 plays a significant tumor suppressive role in HCC by inhibiting epithelial-mesenchymal transition and multidrug resistance.

Key words: Snail family transcriptional repressor 2, Epithelial-mesenchymal transition, Multidrug resistance, Hepatocellular carcinoma

XI Wei, ZHANG Yi-hao, WEI Qing. Inhibition of SNAI2 expression enhances tumor stem cell-like characteristics and multi-drug resistance of hepatoma cells[J]. Chinese Hepatolgy, 2018, 23(11): 981-984.

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