Objective: To observe the effect of metastasis-associated gene 1 (MTA1) on the growth and metastasis of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma in nude mice using RNA interference technology (RNAi).
Methods: Lentiviral vector of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeting MTA1 was constructed and packaged to transfect Hep-2 cells. Hep-2 cells transfected with scramble shRNA and MTA1 shRNA were injected into the paw pad of nude mice (n=5 per group). Nine weeks after modeling of the lymphatic metastasis of laryngeal carcinoma, the mice were sacrificed, and tumor tissues and inguinal lymph node were harvested to be subjected to HE staining, reverse transcription PCR and Western blotting.
Results: The gene screening showed the lentiviral vector of MTA1 shRNA was constructed successfully, and those tumor cells were transplanted and grew well in all mice. The size of tumor in the mice of MTA1 shRNA tansfected group was obviously smaller compared to the scramble shRNA transfected group at the same time point. No inguinal lymph node metastasis was found in the mice of MTA1 shRNA group. In contrast, the tumor cells were seen in the inguinal lymph nodes of the scramble shRNA infected mice. Reverse transcription PCR and Western blotting showed that the mRNA and protein levels of MTA1, β-catenin, matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), cyclin D1 were obviously reduced in MTA1 shRNA infected mice compared with the scramble shRNA infected mice.
Conclusion: The inhibition of MTA1 gene could depress the growth and metastasis of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma in nude mice.