Abstract: Objective To observe the impacts of Karyopherin α-2 (KPNA2) gene silencing on proliferation and invasion of human hepatocarcinoma cell lines SMMC7721 and Bel7404. Methods Human hepatocarcinoma cell lines SMMC7721 and Bel7404 were transiently transfected with KPNA2 siRNA through adoption of LipofectaminTM 2000. Protein immunoblotting was performed to detect KPNA2 protein expression in transfected cells at 48 hours after transfection. MTT assay was carried out to assess proliferative capability of gene silencing cells, and Transwell assay was used to evaluate their invasion ability. Results Relative mRNA level of KPNA2 in control group of SMMC7721 and Bel7404 was higher than that in siRNA-transfected group (1.02±0.13 vs. 0.37±0.07, t=10.78, P<0.01; 1.05±0.1 vs. 70.36±0.06, t=9.38, P<0.01, respectively). Relative protein level in control group was higher than that in transfected group (0.96±0.10 vs. 0.42±0.05, t=11.83, P<0.01; 0.93±0.09 vs. 0.48±0.06, t=10.19, P<0.01, respectively). Proliferative capacity of control groups was stronger than that in transfected groups at 24h, 48h and 72h respectively, which revealed statistically significant differences (P<0.05). Invasive capacity in control group was more powerful than that in siRNA-transected group (126.20±21.61 vs. 51.13±10.2, t=7.68, P<0.01; 125.124±8.04 vs. 55.20 ±18.54, t=8.48, P<0.01, respectively ). Conclusion KPNA2 gene silencing could adjust the proliferative capacity and invasive ability of human hepatocarcinoma cell lines SMMC7721 and Bel7404.

Key words: KPNA2, Hepatocarcinoma cell lines, SMMC7721, Bel7404, Proliferative capacity, Invasion ability