Downregulation of hTERT contributes to ovarian cancer apoptosis and inhibits proliferation of ovarian cancer cells

Our study aims to study the effects of the exogenous human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) interfering gene on the ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3 through proliferation and apoptosis.

The amount and activity of SKOV3 cells in ovarian cancer was decreased after the exogenous introduction of the hTERT interfering gene.

Lipofectamine TM2000 was used to transfer the hTERT interfering gene into the SKOV3 cells. After a predetermined amount of time after transfection with the hTERT interfering genes, the expression of the tumor-related genes was detected using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and relative protein level was detected using western blot analysis. Cell morphology was acquired by microscopy. Cell viability was detected by middle-time-spray (MTS), and cell cycle and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry.

Forty-eight hours after transfection, the expression of tumor-related proteins in the experimental group was increased compared with the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The cell morphology showed a significant difference between the control group and the hTERT shRNA group. Furthermore, 48 and 72 h after transfection with the hTERT interfering gene, the cell viability inhibition rates of the hTERT shRNA group were 0.77±0.02 and 0.88±0.01 respectively. Compared with the control group, the cell viability inhibition rates were 11.97±2.37 (%) and 18.72±1.01 (%), respectively, with statistically significant differences (P=0.009, P=0.004). Flow cytometry detected the apoptosis peak of SKOV3 cells in the experimental group 48 h after transfection with the hTERT interfering gene. Propidium iodide (PI) and Annexin V-FITC revealed that the apoptotic cells accounted for 18.13% of the total number, which was significantly higher than the 3.85% demonstrated by the control group. Conclusions: The amount and activity of SKOV3 cells in ovarian cancer was decreased after the exogenous introduction of the hTERT interfering gene.