[Inhibitory effect of siRNA targeting gene Aqp1 on K562 cells]

The objective of this study was to establish an RNAi approach that can specifically target aqp1 gene sequence in vitro, and to assess the inhibitory effect of this siRNA on K562 cells. The siRNA targeting aqp1-mRNA was designed and transfected into K562 cells by using Lipofectamine(TM) 2000 reagent. Phase-contrast microscopy was used to analyze morphology changes of K562 cells. Cell viability was determined by MTT assay, and flow cytometry and DNA ladder analysis were carried out to identify siRNA-induced apoptosis. The expression levels of aqp1-mRNA at different transfection time were detected by RT-PCR. The results showed that the siRNA was successful by established. The transfected K562 cells displayed the significant apoptosis. The aqp1-siRNAs could obviously inhibit the activity of K562 cells. Cellular DNA fragmentation was observed in the siRNA group after transfection for 48 hours, the apoptosis rates at 24, 48 and 72 hours after transfection were 24.2%, 36.1% and 42.9% respectively. The aqp1-mRNA expression in the cells treated by aqp1-siRNA for 24, 48 and 72 hours were significantly reduced by 33%, 46% and 57% respectively. It is concluded that the aqp1-siRNA can efficiently and specifically inhibited the proliferation and inducing apoptosis of K562 cells. Gene aqp1 can be a potential target point for therapy of malignant tumor.