Evaluation of the Consequence of CTNNB1 & RAB1A Targeting on Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Line

Abstract Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer in adults and the most common cause of death in people with chronic liver diseases. In Egypt, liver cancer forms 11.75% of the malignancies of all digestive organs and 1.68% of the total malignancies. HCC constitutes 70.48% of all liver tumors among Egyptians. In the past few years, early diagnosis and advances in therapeutic measures have greatly improved the outcome of HCC patients. However, the prognosis is still poor with overall survival rates of 3-5%. The alterations in cancer driver genes and associated pathways are the major triggers for HCC. So, the identification and targeting of these genes are beneficial to understand HCC and to develop a new therapy. Aim of the work We aimed to target CTNNB1 and RAB1A oncogenes in HepG2 cell lines by RNAi then evaluate the effect of their targeting on the viability and proliferative activity of HepG2 cells. Materials and methods Using HepG2 cell lines, CTNNB1 & RAB1A oncogenes were targeted using two different siRNAs (small interfering RNA) for each gene. The viability of HepG2 was conducted by Trypan blue test. The cell proliferation was tested by CellTiter 96® AQueous One Solution Cell Proliferation Assay. Results There was significant reduction in the cells’ viability detected by trypan blue test in transfected cells with siRNA targeting either CTNNB1 or RAB1A compared to Mock HepG2 cell lines (p <0.05). In addition, the proliferative activity was significantly lower in both HepG2 cell lines transfected with siRNA targeting the previous genes compared to mock cells (p < 0.05). Furthermore, HepG2 cells transfected with siRNA targeting RAB1A were more proliferative compared to those transfected with siRNA targeting CTNNB1 (p <0.05). Conclusion Targeting CTNNB1or RAB1A in HepG2 cell lines decreased the cell viability and proliferative activity. Moreover, targeting CTNNB1 was effective in decreasing cell proliferative activity compared to targeting RAB1A in HepG2 cell lines. So, targeting CTNNB1 may have a potential therapeutic effect in treatment of HCC.