Evaluation of the Consequence of CTNNB1 & RAB1A Targeting in HepG2 Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Line

Abstract

epatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancers with cirrhosis being the major risk factor for its development. Worldwide, Egypt has the highest prevalence of HCV and therefore HCC representing a major health problem in Egypt. 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. RNAi (RNA interference) is a gene editing technique that has been used to manipulate gene expression. RNAi can bind to complementary mRNA and degrades or regulates the mRNA. Subsequently, a decrease in protein synthesis occurs. Based on bioinformatics analysis tool (www.proteinatlas.org) and genome data from the previous studies deposited in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) (http:// cancergenome.nih.gov), CTNNB1 and RABIA, HCC associated genes, was retrieved. This study was done at the Medical Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University during the period from February 2018 – April 2019. The objectives of the current study were: to target CTNNB1 and RABIA mRNA in HepG2 cell lines by using two different RNAi for each, then evaluate the effect of their Knocking down on the cell viability and proliferative activity of