The Effect Of Inhibition Of Snail Expression By RNA Interference On Epithelial-mesenchymal Transition And Invasion Ability Of Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma HepG2Cell In Vitro

Objective: To investigate the effect of RNA interference(RNAi) targetingtranscription factor Snail on epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT) phenotype andinvasion ability of human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2cell in vitro.Methods: The siRNA targeting Snail and negatvie control siRNA weredesigned,chemical synthesized and transfected into human hepatocellular carcinomaHepG2cell,Snail siRNA group cells expressing Snail suppressed and Negative controlgroup cells expressing Snail uninfluenced were obtained.In Control group(nontransfectiongroup),Negative control group and Snail siRNA group cells,Snail,E-cadherin and Vimentinexpression were detected by using Western blot and RT-PCR,invasion ability was detectedby using Transwell chamber model.Results: Control group:Both Snail and Vimentin expression were strong positive,butE-cadherin expression was poor positive.Snail siRNA group compared with Controlgroup,Snail and Vimentin expression decreased significantly（P＜0.05）,E-cadherinexpression increased significantly（P＜0.05）,the numbers of cells permeating septum ofTranswell chamber decreased significantly（P＜0.05）.Negative control group comparedwith Control group,Snail、E-cadherin and Vimentin expression,and the numbers of cellspermeating septum of Transwell chamber were not significantly different（P＞0.05）.Conclusion: RNA interference targeting Snail expression can inhibit efficientlyepithelial-mesenchymal transition and invasion ability of HepG2cells in vitro. Snailmight play a crucial role in epithelial-mesenchymal transition and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma,and suppression of Snail expression might be a promisingstrategy for the treatment of human hepatocellular carcinoma.