Bcl-2 gene silencing by RNA interference inhibits the growth of the human gallbladder carcinoma cell line GBC-SD in vitro and in vivo.

Gallbladder carcinoma is the most common malignant tumor in the biliary system; however, the underlying mechanisms of tumor initiation, progression and metastasis are not fully understood to date. The B-cell lymphoma/leukemia-2 (Bcl-2) gene, which is highly expressed in gallbladder carcinoma tissue, is one of the most important regulatory factors in cell apoptosis, and plays an important role in the initiation and progression of gallbladder carcinoma. In the present study, we constructed a eukaryotic expression vector of small interference RNA (siRNA) specific to the Bcl-2 gene and transfected it into GBC-SD human gallbladder carcinoma cells. We demonstrated that the constructed Bcl-2 siRNA vector effectively silenced Bcl-2 gene expression in the GBC-SD human gallbladder carcinoma cells, inhibited cell proliferation, induced cell apoptosis, increased chemotherapeutic sensitivity to 5-fluorouracil and inhibited tumor growth in vivo. Collectively, these data reveal an important contribution of Bcl-2 to gallbladder carcinoma. Thus, the use of a synthetic inhibitor of Bcl-2 may be a promising approach for the treatment of gallbladder carcinoma.