Aberrant expression of in age-related cataract and its effect on cell proliferation, apoptosis and gene expression changes.

AIM

To evaluate the regulation of the aberrant expression of () in the development of age-related cataract (ARC).

METHODS

Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot analysis were employed to evaluate the expression of in ARC patients and healthy controls. The proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of human lens epithelial cell (HLE-B3) were further analyzed under the condition of gene silence. Alteration of gene expression at mRNA level after knockdown were also evaluated by qRT-PCR on HLE-B3 cells.

RESULTS

The aberrant expression of was identified a clinically associated with the ARC. Silencing of promoted the apoptosis and inhibited the proliferation of HLE-B3 by blocking the cell cycle. Moreover, gene silence didn't affect the cytoskeleton of HLE-B3 but down-regulated the (), (), () and () expression levels in HLE-B3 cells. Silencing the gene induced EMT of the HLE-B3 cells by promoting the () expression.

CONCLUSION

Silencing of induces S-phase arrest, also inhibits the proliferation and enhance HLE-B3 apoptosis and EMT, and down-regulates the expression of , , and . Thus, the expression alteration of may play a critical role in the pathogenesis of ARC.