[Knockdown of YTH N-methyladenosine RNA binding protein 2 (YTHDF2) inhibits cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis in cervical cancer cells].

Objective To investigate the effect of YTH N-methyladenosine RNA binding protein 2 (YTHDF2) knockdown on proliferation, cell cycle and apoptosis of cervical cancer cells. Methods Human Protein Atlas database was used to analyze the expression of YTHDF2 in cervical cancer and its relationship with the survival. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect protein expression of YTHDF2 in 31 cervical cancer tissue samples and 31 normal cervical tissue samples. Then short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) targeting YTHDF2 were designed and cloned into lentivirus expression vector. HeLa and SiHa cells were infected with the lentivirus. RNA and protein expression of YTHDF2 were measured by real-time quantitative PCR and Western blotting, respectively. Furthermore, CCK-8 assay and colony formation assay were conducted to detect the cell proliferation and flow cytometry was used to analyze the cell cycle and apoptosis. Results The database showed that cervical cancer patients with high YTHDF2 expression had poor prognosis. And YTHDF2 expression increased in the cervical cancer tissues compared with the normal tissues. Moreover, knockdown of YTHDF2 inhibited the cell proliferation, induced cell apoptosis, and arrested the cells at S phase in the HeLa and SiHa cells. Conclusion YTHDF2 expression is upregulated in cervical carcinoma. Knockdown of YTHDF2 can significantly inhibit cell proliferation and promote apoptosis in cervical carcinoma HeLa and SiHa cells.