Objective: To investigate whether apoptosis of human lens epithelial cells (HLEC) can be induced by inhibition of bcl-2 shRNA.
Methods: It was an experimental study. Two pairs of oligonucleotides were synthesized and inserted into plasmid PGCsi to generate shRNA eukaryotic expression vectors, named P1 and P2. At 48 hours after transfection in HLEC (SRA01/04) with Lipofectamine 2000, the whole cell protein was extracted and detected by Western blot. The bcl-2 mRNA level was detected by real-time PCR. The percentage of HLECs undergoing apoptosis was measured by Annexin V-PI staining. The activity of caspase-3 was analyzed by Western blotting.
Results: The shRNA eukaryotic expression vectors were constructed successfully. At 48 hours after transfection, the rate of transfection of P1 and P2 was about 44.1% and 47.2% respectively. The protein and mRNA level of bcl-2 was 0.435 and 0.476, greatly downregulated (F = 1672.4, P < 0.05). The percentage of HLEC undergoing apoptosis was 42.3% and 45.4%, greatly improved (F = 1756.2, P < 0.05). The activity of caspase-3 was greatly improved.
Conclusion: P1 and P2 can both down-regulate the expression of bcl-2, and induce the apoptosis of HLEC.