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Lentivirus-Mediated Short Hairpin RNA for Follistatin Downregulation Suppresses Tumor Progression in Hypopharyngeal Carcinoma

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Abstract

Objective

Follistatin (FST) inhibits the action of activin by interfering with the binding of activin to its receptor. Although the prognostic value of FST in various cancers has been investigated previously, studies rarely focused on hypopharyngeal carcinoma (HPC). In our study, the effect of FST expression on HPC tissues and cell lines was investigated.

Methods

A total of 60 patients with HPC were recruited for this study. Levels of FST mRNA and protein were measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemistry in HPC tissue samples and by qPCR in the HPC FaDu cells, as well as immortal nasopharyngeal epithelial cell line NP-69 cells. After silencing the FST expression in FaDu cells using lentivirus-mediated siRNA that was specific for FST mRNA, cell proliferation was determined by a Celigo assay. Tumor growth was monitored in nude mice and viability was determined by a methylthiazoletetrazolium assay. The ratio of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis was evaluated by flow cytometry. The colony formation ability was performed using Giemsa staining. In addition, wound healing and Transwell migration and invasion assays were performed for the analysis of cell motility.

Results

FST expression was significantly higher in human HPC tissue and FaDu cells than in normal tissue and NP-69 cells. A higher expression of FST in HPC samples was positively correlated with advanced tumors. Moreover, FST knockdown by shRNA significantly decreased cell growth, colony formation, migration and invasion. Furthermore, FST silencing increased the cell apoptosis percentage, and arrested cell cycle in the S phase in FaDu cells. In addition, FST silencing suppressed tumor growth in vivo.

Conclusions

Our results indicated that the FST gene was associated with HPC progression and may serve as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of HPC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, the Yijishan Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, 241001, China

    Liang Ge & Shao-feng Liu

Authors
  1. Liang Ge
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  2. Shao-feng Liu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shao-feng Liu.

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The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest with any financial organization or corporation or individual that can inappropriately influence this work.

Additional information

This study was supported by the Project of Young and Middle-aged Scientific Research Fund of Wannan Medical College (No. WK2019F11).

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Ge, L., Liu, Sf. Lentivirus-Mediated Short Hairpin RNA for Follistatin Downregulation Suppresses Tumor Progression in Hypopharyngeal Carcinoma. CURR MED SCI 42, 832–840 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-022-2615-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-022-2615-3

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