Suppression of bcl-2 gene by RNA interference increases chemosensitivity to cisplatin in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line CNE1.

To explore the effect of suppressing BCL-2 expression using RNA interference (RNAi) technique in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line CNE1. CNE1 cell lines stably expressing shRNAs targeted bcl-2 and GL3 gene were established and gene expression inhibition was assessed by Western blotting analysis. The effect of suppressing bcl-2 by RNAi on cell growth was studied, the apoptosis induction and the sensitization of CNE1 cells to cisplatin were quantified by MTT assays and flow cytometry. The results showed that: stable transfection of CNE1 cells with vectors expressing shRNAs against bcl-2 decreased the expression of BCL-2 protein; suppression of BCL-2 expression did not affect cell proliferation but could increase the chemosensitivity to cisplatin in CNE1 cells. This will help physicians to make some clinical trials of gene therapy on nasopharyngeal carcinoma by RNAi.