Objective  To explore the effect of RNA interference decreasing MSI1 gene expression on the chemosensitivity of human glioma cells U-87MG.

Methods  The design and synthesis of Msi1-specific siRNA and the transfection of U-87MG cells were conducted. The expression of MSI1 in U-87MG cells was detected by Western blot. CCK-8 was employed to observe the sensitivity of U-87MG cells to temozolomide(TMZ). FCM was used to observe the apoptosis rate of U-87MG cells after pSIREN-MSI1 transfection.

Results  Lentiviral vector-mediated MSI1-siRNA was successfully constructed. Immunofluorescence assay demonstrated that the transfection efficiency was above 60%. Western blot analyses demonstrated that pSIREN-MSI1 could significantly inhibit the expression of MSI1 in U-87MG cells (P<0.01); CCK-8 results showed that when U-87MG cells were exposed to temozolomide, the growth inhibiting rate of pSIREN-MSI1 transfected cells was significantly increased, compared with those of blank control group and negative control group (P<0.01). FCM results showed that the apoptosis rate of U-87MG cells were increased after pSIREN-MSI1 transfection(P<0.01).

Conclusion  MSI1-siRNA could significantly inhibit the expression of MSI1 in human glioma cells U-87MG. It could induce the apoptosis and enhance the chemosensitivity of U-87MG cells.