Sirnas-Mediated Knockdown Of F Gene Inhibits The Target Cell Growth And Its Anchorage-Independent Growth

F protein was synthesized from the initiation codon of core protein by a + 1 ribosomal frame shift, which might participate in HCV infection and hepatocarcinoma. In this study, short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) were used to silence F gene expression in artificial F-protein stable expressed cells-NIH3T3-F cells. NIH3T3-F cells were transfected with siRNAs-F (siRNAs targeting F gene) followed by analysis target cell proliferation. Furthermore, anchorage-independent growth in soft agar by siRNAs-F treatment was investigated. It was found that the siRNAs-F-mediated inhibition of F gene reduced the NIH3T3-F cell growth and led cells to lose the proliferative focus formation in soft agar. Therefore, since F protein might have diverse biological properties in natural HCV infection or even carcinogenesis, the specific knockdown of F gene might be useful in analyzing its function. The using of siRNAs-F presented appropriate tools for this aim since they reduced the expression of target F gene significantly.