F-box proteins are essential components of the Skp-cullin-F-box complex (a type of E3 ubiquitin ligase), and participate in cell cycle and immune responses through the ubiquitin proteasome system. F-box protein 39 (FBXO39) belongs to the F-box family, which has been reported to be associated with cancer oncogenesis and progression. The present study aimed to investigate the role of FBXO39 in osteosarcoma (OS) cell proliferation and apoptosis in vitro. It was demonstrated that U-2OS cells exhibited high expression of FBXO39 compared with HOS and SaOS-2 osteosarcoma cells. Thus, knockdown of FBXO39 was performed using lentivirus-mediated short hairpin RNA (shRNA) transfection to validate the effect of FBXO39 in U-2OS cells. Western blotting and RT-qPCR analysis were used to confirm the efficiency of infection by analyzing the expression level of FBXO39. Using Celigo-based cell counting and MTT assays, it was demonstrated that FBXO39 knockdown significantly reduced the rate of cell proliferation compared with control. Caspase 3/7 activity assays and fluorescence-activated cell sorting confirmed the induction of apoptosis in U-2OS cells following FBXO39 knockdown. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that FBXO39 knockdown may significantly inhibit proliferation and promote apoptosis of U-2OS cells. Thus, FBXO39 may serve an important role in OS progression.
Keywords: F-box protein 39; U-2OS cells; apoptosis; osteosarcoma; proliferation.