Knockdown of FBXO39 inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis of human osteosarcoma U-2OS cells.

F-box proteins are essential components of the Skp-cullin-F-box complex (a type of E3 ubiquitin ligase), and participate in cell cycle and immune responses through the ubiquitin proteasome system. F-box protein 39 () belongs to the F-box family, which has been reported to be associated with cancer oncogenesis and progression. The present study aimed to investigate the role of in osteosarcoma (OS) cell proliferation and apoptosis . It was demonstrated that U-2OS cells exhibited high expression of compared with HOS and SaOS-2 osteosarcoma cells. Thus, knockdown of was performed using lentivirus-mediated short hairpin RNA (shRNA) transfection to validate the effect of in U-2OS cells. Western blotting and RT-qPCR analysis were used to confirm the efficiency of infection by analyzing the expression level of . Using Celigo-based cell counting and MTT assays, it was demonstrated that knockdown significantly reduced the rate of cell proliferation compared with control. Caspase 3/7 activity assays and fluorescence-activated cell sorting confirmed the induction of apoptosis in U-2OS cells following knockdown. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that knockdown may significantly inhibit proliferation and promote apoptosis of U-2OS cells. Thus, may serve an important role in OS progression.